Amelia Earhart's Shoes -- Is the Mystery Solved? by Thomas F. King, Ph.D; Randall S. Jacobson, Ph.D.; Karen Ramey Burns, Ph.D.; and Kenton Spading. Altamira Press, 2001, $24.95.

Praise for Earhart's Shoes:

"The authors have taken one of the great mysteries of modern times, provided a story line that could only have been conceived by Steven Spielberg, and created a book that will keep you up until you turn the last page."

"Although we still do not know where we might find Amelia Earhart's lost plane, here is a compelling scientific argument for one place to look."

---Dr. Robert D. Ballard, president of the Institute for Exploration and discoverer of the Titanic

"A rare camaraderie is forged by sunburn, sea sickness, exhaustion, and a shared dedication against all odds and in defiance of all criticism …TIGHAR has already gathered evidence that they are searching in the right place…(They) have sifted meticulously through dirt, scoured murky lagoons, and dived the fringing reef."

---Skin Diver Magazine

Published just prior to TIGHAR’s Niku IIII Expedition, Amelia Earhart’s Shoes – Is the Mystery Solved? is the story of the first twelve years of The Earhart Project as told by four TIGHAR members who participated in much of the research. The book was an independent undertaking by Dr. Tom King who served as the Project Archaeologist on the 1989, 1997, and 2001 expeditions to Nikumaroro and the 1998 expedition to Kanton Island. Tom also supervised the 1999 Fiji Bone Search. Assisting him with the book were oceanographer Dr. Randy Jacobson who has been very active in project research since 1992; forensic osteologist Dr. Kar Burns who participated in the 1999 and 2001 expeditions, and Kenton Spading who did extensive archival research for the project and participated in the 1997 expedition and the 1998 trip to Kanton Island.

Although we scrupulously avoided any editorial input, TIGHAR did give the authors free access to documents, maps and photographs and provided fact-checking when requested. In return, several of the authors have generously donated their royalties back to the project. The result is a no-holds-barred, critical look at The Earhart Project from the perspective of volunteer insiders. Tom King’s casual style captures the irreverent yet scientifically rigorous tone of TIGHAR’s work and lets the reader share in the trials and tribulations of the two-steps-forward-one-step-back investigative process. “Shoes” is an excellent description of what has become an epic quest and sales of the book have already added several thousand dollars to the project coffers.

You can order Amelia Earhart’s Shoes – Is the Mystery Solved? directly from Altamira Press.