THE FREE LIFE | 50 Years Ago

September 18, 2020—This week's East Hampton Star has a Guestwords (op-ed) tribute by LTV's Archivist, Genie Chipps Henderson, to "The Free Life" balloon that was launched from George Sid Miller's farm in Springs 50 years ago. In the aerial photo above, Accabonac Harbor is in the background.

The three balloonists were: 

• Actress Pamela Brown, 28, daughter of Kentucky Congressman John Y. Brown Sr. and sister of Kentucky Fried Chicken CEO John Y. Brown, Jr.
• Her husband Rodney (Rod) Anderson, 32.
• Famed English balloonist Malcolm Brighton, 32. 

It was Brighton's 100th balloon ascent. It was also his last. I have written about this flight  in prior years, for example, here: http://nyctimetraveler.blogspot.com/2013/09/september-21-end-of-free-life.html.

The balloon was first assembled over several weeks in the field behind 775 (now 771) Springs Fireplace Road. It was then brought north on the same road to Miller's larger field —a pasture for horses from which the horses were temporarily removed—for inflation, filming, and launching.

As the flight plans moved along, some nagging questions arose:

• Only one of the three was an experienced balloonist.
• The balloonist was not involved in the design of the balloon, and had issues with it.
• Above all, the design did not allow easy separation of the gondola from the balloon.
• Another experienced balloonist pulled out because he decided it was too risky.
• On the day before the launch, a couple of tears were found in the balloon. One of them was described by farmer Miller as a "hole in the side" that was "patched". 
• A crowd came to see them off. The press was out in force—a problem, because it meant rescheduling would have wasted their time and lost face for the crew.
• It was beautiful launch day. What could go wrong?
• The departure was fueled by champagne.

The momentum of a sendoff makes turning back difficult. I am reminded of this when I speculate why it has been so hard for some to self-quarantine or accept a lockdown to stop the spread of Covid-19. Momentum keeps us wanting to stick to the old plan, the old way.

After they took off, a PanAm pilot warned them about a cold front coming south. When they reached Newfoundland, they ran into a storm. Brighton, in a clear and professional voice, notified the Gander Delta weather station that they were ditching the balloon. They were coming down over water. That, alas, was the last anyone heard from the balloon.

Presumably Brighton was planning on cutting the lines that held the balloon to the gondola and the crew would then get into the onboard raft and be rescued. One could imagine that in the storm the crew could not cut them fast enough. If they did cut loose and made it to the raft, it would have been a challenge for the 1970-vintage operation at Gander to send out a rescue mission to get to them quickly. They were hundreds of miles away.

No one ever found any trace of The Free Life.

Genie Henderson was a close friend of fellow Kentuckian Pamela Brown. Here is her story: https://www.easthamptonstar.com/guestwords-opinion/2020917/guestwords-50-years-later-free-life. A plaque is being prepared to mark the pasture where the flight was launched.

Brighton's daughter, who was eight years old at the time, has initiated a special site to honor the quest represented by The Free Life—https://www.thefreelifeballoon.com/. It includes a compelling movie about the flight.