They Married Adventure: The Wandering Lives of Martin and Osa Johnson

About this book

Martin and Osa Johnson thrilled American audiences of the 1920s and 30s with their remarkable movies of far-away places exotic peoples and the dramatic spectacle of African wildlife. Their own lives were as exciting as the movies they made--sailing through the South Sea Islands dodging big game at African waterholes flying small planes over the veldt taking millionaires on safari. Osa Johnsons ghostwritten autobiography I Married Adventure became a national bestseller. The 1939 film version was billed as the story of World Explorations First Lady whose indomitable daring would be stayed by neither snarling lion nor crouching leopard tropic tempest nor savage tribesman! Heroes to millions Osa and Martin seemed to embody glamor daring and the all-American ideal of self-reliance. Probing beneath the glamor of the Johnsons public image Pascal and Eleanor Imperato explore the more human side of the couples lives--and ways the Johnsons shaped for better and for worse Americas vision of Africa. Drawing on many years of research access to a wealth of letters and archives interviews with many who worked closely with the Johnsons and their own deep knowledge of Africa the authors present a fascinating and intimate portrait of this intrepid couple.