Earhart author's mother was CAP pilot

FLORIDA – The new major motion picture about famed female aviatrix Ameila Earhart, set to launch onto movie screens this weekend, has a Civil Air Patrol connection. A story in the Orlando Sentinel reveals the film screenplay for Fox Searchlight’s Amelia was based on the acclaimed 1997 biography East to the Dawn, which was written by Lake Wales, Fla., journalist and writer Susan Butler, whose mother was a World War II-era Civil Air Patrol pilot. She helped patrol the Jersey shores during the early days of the war and was a member of the Ninety-Nines, a flying organization for women founded by Earhart. CAP also has a cadet achievement award named for Earhart. Receiving the Amelia Earhart Award represents the second milestone of CAP’s Cadet Program and carries with it a promotion to the rank of cadet captain.