Lori Jakiela has big dreams -- much too big to be contained
by her hometown, tiny Trafford, Pennsylvania. Her dreams,
inspired as much by pop culture icons like Marlo Thomas as
by her father's early desire to have a singing career, draw
her inexorably to that mecca for dreamers, New York City.
The nudge from the universe that makes the move seem
possible is a newspaper ad from an airline company
recruiting flight attendants. The ad tempts Lori with
visions of glamorous jet-setting and a home base in New
York -- but the reality of the job is somewhat different.
The life of a flight attendant is exhausting and
occasionally humiliating, but does provide Lori with some
of the adventure she hoped for. Until the news of her
father's illness pulls her back toward home, and into the
very future she thought couldn't be found anywhere but New
York.
MISS NEW YORK HAS EVERYTHING must confront the same tough
questions put to every memoir: Who wrote this, and why
should I care? Lori Jakiela's answer would probably
be that her memoir was written by an inveterate dreamer -
someone who managed to hold onto the inherent beauty of the
possible in the face of the inevitable. And whether or not
readers enjoy Jakiela's sharp, slightly caustic voice, or
her occasional flights of literary fancy, her memoir will
be of interest to anyone who's ever wanted to make
something extraordinary out of an ordinary life.
Growing up in Trafford, Pennsylvania - hometown of The
Love Boat's Lauren Tewes - Jakiela had dreams of
becoming famous and making it big. Inspired by her
childhood idol, Marlo Thomas in That Girl, she
always wanted to move to New York City and away from the
small town where her cantankerous father worked in the
steel mills. When she sees an ad from an airline company
promising a home base in the Big Apple and a jet-setting
lifestyle all over the world, she quickly signs up. But she
learns that being a flight attendant is far from glamorous.
Instead of Paris layovers in a pillbox hat and white
gloves, she gets Frankfurt in a one-size-fits-all polyester
uniform and apron. When her father is diagnosed with
terminal cancer, she returns to Trafford only to discover
that the writing career and life she always wanted were
right there at home - and that the grass in her own
backyard might just be greener than the one on TV.
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