Rachel Hartigan

Join us for a special evening with National Geographic writer Rachel Hartigan-- the author of the upcoming biography: Lost: Amelia Earhart's Three Mysterious Deaths and One Extraordinary Life!

Unravel one of history's greatest mysteries in this spellbinding narrative exploring three leading theories of Amelia Earhart’s tragic disappearance.

Tickets for this event will be bundled with a copy of Lost to be signed at the event.

Tickets are required to attend this event. We hope to see you there!

We strive to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals to engage fully. To request an accommodation or for inquiries about accessibility, please reach out to [email protected].

Ticket holders who purchased a book-included ticket and are unable to attend the event will be able to pick up their book at An Unlikely Story up to 30 days following the event.

About Lost: Amelia Earhart's Three Mysterious Deaths and One Extraordinary Life:

When Amelia Earhart’s plane disappeared in 1937, the clues poured in, attracting wild conspiracies about her tragic fate.
In Lost, former National Geographic reporter Rachel Hartigan delves into Earhart’s disappearance, introducing a host of eccentric characters who have become obsessed with finding the truth. Did the great aviator crash land near the Marshall Islands, only to be captured by Japanese soldiers? Did she manage to land on Nikumaroro Island but die of injury or starvation? Or did she run out of fuel and crash into the ocean?
Interspersed with the search for Earhart is the story of her extraordinary life: her unstable childhood, her itinerant early career, and how a PR-savvy publisher transformed her into an aviation icon and became her husband in an unconventional marriage.
In the spirit of nonfiction blockbusters like The Lost City of Z, Hartigan draws us into the world of Earhart's devotees and unspools a beguiling tale. The theories lead Hartigan from the pilot's birthplace of Atchison, Kansas to an expedition on a remote Pacific Island, where forensic dogs attempt to recover a potential sample of Earhart’s DNA.
As tantilizing new evidence mounts, Hartigan and her fellow investigators descend deeper into a world of conspiracy and obsession. Through its irresistible characters and prodigious research, Lost reveals not just why we remember Amelia Earhart as a trailblazer and adventurer, but why unsolved mysteries keep us forever searching for answers.

About the Author:

RACHEL HARTIGAN has written about everything from the genetics of persimmon trees to the long road to women’s suffrage for National Geographic, where she worked as a writer, reporter, and editor from 2012 to 2024. A former editor of the Washington Post’s Book World, she also covered education and culture for U.S. News & World Report. Her stories about the 2017 and 2019 National Geographic–funded expeditions to Nikumaroro Island each generated more than a million unique views.

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