Book Club: Flight Path

by Erin Drury Boorn, senior philanthropic officer

Flight Path is Hannah Palmer’s journey to find her former homes in Atlanta. She grew up in the neighborhoods around Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) and the streets she grew up on have been encroached upon by the airport. I loved learning more about the history of the neighborhoods of Forest Park, Mountain View and Hapeville. 

Palmer begins questioning what exactly happened to her homes and that leads to visits to courthouses and looking for deed records. You wonder with her about the importance of your home and community. Your childhood home may not still be standing but the memories of growing up in a particular place are often vivid in our memories and hold the good and sometimes difficult times that influence who you grow up to be. 

Palmer’s story of looking for her old homes is paralleled with her looking for her new home in East Point and starting to raise her own family not far from where she was raised. I learned about this book through the Conservation Fund’s work around Finding the Flint which starts at the airport, and I’m excited to see more development of nature in our busy city. This book helped me to see the airport and the life around it a little bit differently, with an appreciation for our history and future.