A former flight attendant living in Botetourt County recently published a book about her life flying the friendly skies titled, Life at 36,000 Feet: Where Faith and Fear Connect.
Sharon Caroll Williams of Blue Ridge became a flight attendant for Piedmont Airlines in 1984. Originally, the company hired her as a secretary. For the next 34 years, Williams would get to know airport runways across the country.
Williams flew mostly long-range and transatlantic flights during the last 20 years of her career. She chose the name, Life at 36,000 Feet: Where Faith and Fear Connect, partly due to most of her flights topping out at least 36,000 feet at the cruising altitude or more.
Her book describes some of the “behind the scenes” tasks flight attendants deal with. Faith plays a big part in her book by giving examples of how people can overcome fears of any kind—especially the fear of flying.
“I actually never planned to become a flight attendant but after observing their flexible schedule while a secretary in the flight attendant office,” Williams admitted in a recent interview, “I thought it would give me more time at home.”
She flew for Piedmont, USAirways and American airlines, which was one airline through several mergers, according to Williams.
In February of 2018, Williams broke her femur while chasing a rescue dog in her neighborhood. The doctor informed Williams that she would no longer be able to stand and perform the physical requirements of a flight attendant.
After 34 years, Williams finally touched down to a new reality.
“I reluctantly retired because it was a job I still loved and enjoyed,” Williams said.
Williams needed a new outlet. She soon began to recount events, friends, and memories from her years as a flight attendant.
“I found that reminiscing and writing about the many memories of my life in the sky helped bring closure to a job that I had not planned to end so abruptly,” Williams continued.
Williams journaled during her years of flying. Over time, she compiled all of her old memoirs and began to sift through her life on the jetway.
“I got lost in the many memories,” Williams stated. “As I wrote, it reinforced the fact that God had placed me in that job for a purpose. Therefore, the title of my book was developed: Life at 36,000 Feet.”
Over the years, Williams had the pleasure of meeting several celebrities while working flights in and out of Los Angeles and New York.
“I met Warren Beatty, Debbie Reynolds, Elizabeth Taylor, Tom Cruise, Richard Gere and Linda Evans; just to name a few,” Williams said. “I also met many athletes and still remember how long Michael Jordan’s legs were as they extended from his first class seat to the front galley area!”
In Life at 36,000 Feet, she talks about nervous introductions with some of her all-time favorite stars. After her first few celebrity encounters at work, Williams kept an autograph book which she still has today as a reminder of the interesting people she met as a flight attendant.
“Once, I even had Donald Trump on my flight to West Palm Beach, Florida,” Williams mentioned. “I would have never guessed that he would one day become a United States President!”
Williams mentioned that the job of a flight attendant is more of a lifestyle.
“Not too many jobs have the opportunity to travel to new destinations and at the same time get paid for that privilege,” Williams continued. “Each trip is different with different people. Different types of people that you encounter as a flight attendant makes the job very interesting.”
There is even a memory Williams shared in her book about a flyer who lost their dentures while sleeping.
“It became a challenge for me to figure out on a red-eye flight who they belonged to,” Williams remembered. “I share the details of how I finally found the owner of the teeth and how I found them.”
Some other interesting stories relate to the fears flight attendants and passengers experience during turbulence and during emergency landings.
“Throughout my book, it became apparent that God protected me many times which led to my subtitle: Where Faith and Fear Connect,” Williams added. “Fears can be felt as soon as some passengers aboard the aircraft, but faith can sometimes be the answer that gets them through these fearful times.”
It took Williams two years to finish her book.
“Since it was my first book, I decided to self-publish it through Amazon’s KDP Publishing,” Williams said. “I was contacted by several publishing companies, but it was too expensive and hired an editor to help me. That process took me about three months and my book was finalized and published on March 30, 2021.”
Since the book’s release, Williams held local book signings and received a lot of support. Williams plans to market the book to airport gift shops.
“I have been busy since my book was published in March with seven book signings,” Williams said. “I also had a book reading and signing event at a local book store in Salem. I am open to other opportunities to promote my book and love to give details of how it all developed.”
Last month, the Dr. Phil Show contacted Williams. Producers from the long-running talk show were familiar with Williams’ book and informed her they were putting together an episode about passenger abuse on flights. While there isn’t a recounting of a specific incident in Williams’s book, she did tell the producer a story of experiencing passenger abuse.
The show’s producer asked Williams to be a part of the episode, which aired on September 24. The topic was “Flightmare.” Williams was able to share her experience. The topic of the show centered around passenger abuse and bringing attention to the rising threat of air rage. COVID and passengers refusal to wear masks has presented a lot of additional problems for flight crew. The episode focused on those issues.
While Williams wasn’t able to talk about her new book, she was able to share with the panel her experiences as a flight attendant.
“It was a memorable experience of flying to Hollywood for the taping—a two-day whirlwind trip!” Williams said.
Williams has several more book signings planned. Her next one will be at “Comfort and Joy” on Scruggs Road at Smith Mountain Lake on October 31 from 2-5 p.m.
Her last book signing on September 11 at “She’s International Boutique” was a success. Williams invited her flight attendant friends to share their stories of how the horrific event of 9-11 especially changed their jobs. “No other event in historyhas affected the airline industry more,” she said.
