El Al: Israels Flying Star (Airways International, 2008), written by Marvin Goldman and featuring historical photos, chronicles 60 years of a once fledgling airline that evolved into a major player in the aviation industry.
Goldman, a civil airline historian and expert, is the worlds largest collector of El Al memorabilia.
Perhaps no other airline is so deeply rooted in the history, struggles and spirit of a nation as El Al.
In the 1920s, Britains Imperial Airways, the first airline to operate in the Holy Land, dominated the skies.
New immigrants to the country, including Yisrael Shochet and Tzvi Nadav, tried to establish modest air service within Palestine but were refused by the British.
Led by Shochet and Nadav, the Flying Camel Club, the first Jewish aviation club in Palestine, was formed in 1933. In 1937, the Jewish flying school Palestine Flying Service opened at Lydda Airport.
Palestine Airways, officially registered as Palestine Air Transport, began thrice-weekly runs in 1937.
When Israel was declared a state on May 14, 1948, the combined forces of surrounding Arab nations immediately attacked it.
Israels only outlet to distant allies was to the West, over the Mediterranean Sea, but this route could only be accessed by air.
El Al was established as the chosen instrument of the state to be its civil aviation lifeline.
Israel defeated the Arabs, and the way was cleared for El Al to develop as Israels principal airline.
El Al eventually integrated members of the flying clubs, schools and the Israel Air Force. Many of these men later became pilots for El Al.
Because Israel is El Als base, the airline has encountered major wars, terrorist threats and hijackings during its six decades of operations.
Still, safety and El Al have become synonymous. People often talk about how secure they feel traveling to Israel via El Al, regardless of the embattled political climate below.
For years, El Al only employed non-Israeli pilots because the British refused to sanction flight training for Israelis. Now the airline uses only Israeli pilots, and they are considered among the best in the world.
The crafts have evolved from C-46s (hand-me-downs from the Israel Air Force) to massive Boeing 777s. Whether flying in first class or coach, passengers receive all the amenities including excellent kosher food and expert service.
Goldmans memorabilia, which he utilizes liberally in El Al: Israels Flying Star, recaptures bygone eras through photographs, brilliant posters, insignias, flight attendants changing uniforms, even stamps.
Of course, nothing can really convey the emotional component of the El Al experience: landing to Hatikvah, kissing the ground upon disembarkation, feeling that unavoidable oneness with the land.
El Al continues bringing Jews from all over the world to their homeland on wings of eagles.
Heres to the next 60 years of Israels national airline and another book as delightfully comprehensive as El Al: Israels Flying Star.
Remember those Road Runner-Wile E. Coyote cartoons? Locked in a game of existential cat and mouse, Coyote (looking hunted and emaciated) valiantly tried to escape the nubile Road Runner, whose signature sound was beep, beep.
Like magic, the Road Runner would appear out of nowhere in a cloud of accumulated, speed-spinning dust and demolish Coyote.
Sure, you felt sorry for the dapper Coyote, destined for a flattened road-kill fate at the end of every episode.
But you couldnt help applauding that Road Runner unflappable, unstoppable, triumphant, proud.
Roadrunner Marketing: Strategic Secrets You Wish You Knew, written by Melanie Goetz and Esty Atlas, is a useful marketing primer that promises to beep the competition.
Goetz and Atlas cram the book with practical advice designed to boost business, particularly in a sour economy:
- build awareness;
- generate publicity;
- attract customers;
- discover what works (and doesnt work);
- create a marketing buzz.
Interviews with successful local entrepreneurs show how positive business strategies, when combined with equal parts personality and drive can deliver in all economic climates.
Goetz has been the president of Hughes & Stuart Marketing since 1980, serves as the companys senior account executive and has 30 years of experience in the field.
Atlas, the public relations director at Hughes & Stuart, is a four-time Emmy Award-winning writer and creative producer who worked as a television news marketer for 16 years. She is the sister of Zahava Koll.
The goal of Roadrunner Marketing is twofold: to help existing small businesses stay on top of their marketing game, and demonstrate how new entrepreneurs can build independent businesses quickly and effectively.
This book is not intended for large companies that can afford an outside PR firm.
Roadrunner Marketing covers the bases: developing a proper press release, targeting media outlets, creating a dynamite Web site, attracting new customers while retaining loyal ones, participation in industry and community events.
The personal interviews, which are particularly instructive and insightful, feature realtor Edie Marka; Terry Vitale, publisher of Colorado Expression; Ken Rosenthal, founder of Panera Bread Co.; entrepreneur Jesse Aragon; Drs. Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn, founders of Baby Signs; Carol Burnette, owner of the upscale Denver womens consignment shop Alis Closet; and others.
What they all seem to share is inspirational receptivity, a drive that wont quit, and an incredibly positive attitude.
Like the Road Runner, they are unstoppable regardless of the roadblocks they encounter along the way.
For Goetz and Atlas, growing a business is not a guessing game. It is predictable and therefore within your control.
The authors also intertwine quotes, sometimes from unlikely sources, throughout the book.
For example:
A customer is the most important visitor on our premises; he is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption of our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us the opportunity to do so.
The head of Nike?
Try Mahatma Gandhi.
To every overwhelming question posed by todays business owner, Goetz and Atlas offer a concrete answer and just keep going and going and going.
Whether you want to start a new business or learn how to keep an existing one thriving, Roadrunner Marketing is a good place to start.
