St Exupéry: Valiant Aviator

Born into a family of French nobility, Antoine de St. Exupéry was a man whose life was touched by a magic gold dust. For all of his short time on earth, a mere forty-four years, his achievements exemplify the power, purity and undying passion of the human spirit. Although known and admired by most for his writing of "The Little Prince," for which he is most famous, Exupery was an accomplished author whose flying often inspired is prose. A pioneer of international postal flight, he soared the skies in an age when pilots had few tools to guide them.

During World War II, he served the allied cause well in a squadron based in the Mediterranean, executing dangerous reconnaissance missions over enemy territory. In 1942 he lived for a short time in Quebec and New York City, but his drive to help in the war effort drove him back to Europe to fly with the Free French. On a final mission, on July 31, 1944, he took off and was never seen again. The next day, a woman reported seeing a plane crash near the Bay of Carqueiranne and a body found nearby was buried as St Exupéry that September.

But the story doesn't end there. In 1998, a fisherman found a silver chain bracelet attached to a pilot's suit that was positively identified as his. In 2004, off the coast of Marseilles, his plane was recovered. Although the cause of the crash remains a mystery, it is known that enemy planes did not shoot him down. A technical error seems most likely although there are some who claim that he may have committed suicide.

Read about this fascinating and vibrant man whose bravery and talent live on in the hearts of all those who share a passion and lust for life.

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