Library History

Death-defying skydiver Miss Hazel Keyes thrills thousands as she leaps from her balloon with her monkey, Miss Jennie Yan Yan. Sail through the heavens with this robust, spunky woman as she earns nationwide fame for more than a decade. Miss Hazel’s life after her aerial career proves equally thrilling as she battles assaults from friends, family, and strangers to maintain her wealth and sanity. This action-packed tale of courage stands remarkable in American history.

WORDS OF PRAISE

William Kalt knows a good story when he sees one: he offers a well-documented profile of a woman whose name might have been lost but for this lively retelling....Kalt has captured it all in this well-illustrated, remarkable book.
---Helene Woodhams, Arizona Daily Star, February 6th, 2023.

Like a slightly crazed cat, Keyes seems to have had nine different lives, all lived in the moment, and all with high-speed chases front and foremostt....Kalt’s book on this firecracker of humanity is an easy read—funny, absurdist, and filled with genuinely weird yarns that the reader comes to expect of a biographical subject almost too off-the-wall to be believable.
---Carol Olten, Timekeeper, La Jolla Historical Society Fall-Winter 2022/2023

A leader in his local history community, award-winning author, historian, and humanitarian, William Kalt III continues to contribute to Western literature and give history a future. His exciting writing style brings the stories to life, and I highly recommend anything he writes.
--Dr. Kenneth V. Karrels, Chairman, Southern Arizona Transportation Museu

William Kalt’s passion for history began on his grandmother’s lap, hearing stories of life in 1890s mining camps on the Western frontier. His story "Colonel Epes Randolph: Railroad Man of the Southwest" received the Journal of Arizona History’s award for the best article in 2006. His book Tucson Was a Railroad Town: the Days of Steam on the Big Burg in the Main Line won a 2008 Southwest Book of the Year. Kalt’s High in Desert Skies: Early Arizona Aviation was a finalist for the Arizona Authors Association published non-fiction book of 2018.