I am Pam Redman. My husband John and I have co-authored our memoir, a true love story using the pen names Beth and Jim Aubrey. The Long Flight Home, A True Story of Years Lost and Love Found chronicles a transatlantic love story that began in the 1960’s, when a teenage girl from a small town in Kentucky wrote a letter to an unlicensed “pirate radio” station broadcasting from a ship anchored in the Irish Sea. Her response came from a teenage boy from a fishing port in the Northwest of England. After becoming best friends via written letters, they lost touch due to unfortunate circumstances in the girl’s family. They were lost to each other for 42 years, but ultimately reunited…all because of the discovery of a worn bookmark once sent in a pen pal letter.
More than a romance, our story is a powerful testament to perseverance, second chances, and the belief that it is never too late for love to reclaim what was once lost.
Throughout more than 4 decades, our story is rooted in real-life hardship, but we were determined never to quit and allow failure to define us. Our message is one of resilience, tenacity, hope and of love that finally found a way.
Our book has been Kirkus and BookLife reviewed. Those who have read it insist that it should be a movie and have been unrelenting in their encouragement.
Our ultimate desire is see our book adapted for the big screen and to bring our story of hope to a world that so desperately needs a love story.
About me: I was born and raised in a small coal camp town in southeastern Kentucky, where grit, resilience and faith were necessities as much as they were values. As a divorced single mother, I first built on an unconventional career in the male-dominated coal industry, earning a degree in coal mining technology and becoming one of a handful of women in Kentucky to achieve First Class Underground Mine Foreman Certification in the 1980’s.
When the coal industry declined, I had to reinvent my life once again, by going to nursing school. While raising my children, I completed multiple nursing degrees, ultimately earning my baccalaureate degree while working full time. I went on to become a Board-Certified Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Nurse, dedicating more than two decades to healing patients with complex and chronic wounds. My 39-year nursing career has spanned multiple practice settings, hospitals, correctional facilities and international medical mission work and disaster relief.
For most of my adult life, I’ve been a bridge builder. My story is one of endurance, focusing on being the security my two children needed continuing my education and service to others.
In 2015, this unexpected reconnection, facilitated by the era of the internet and the rediscovery of a worn bookmark changed everything. I believe ours is a story worth sharing and adapting to film.
I am currently doing private fundraising and entering contests to help make our dream a reality.
Thank you!
