Earhart

Bowen Pattison Weisheit Sr., a retired Harford County real estate lawyer and author who wrote of his World War II experiences as well as the disappearance of flier Amelia Earhart, died of heart failure April 29 while shad fishing on the Susquehanna River. The longtime Bel Air resident, who was pronounced dead at Harford Memorial Hospital, was 90. Mr. Weisheit, the son of a lawyer and West Towson developer, was born in Baltimore and raised in Hamilton. He was a 1936 graduate of City College and earned a bachelor's degree in 1940 from St. John's College in Annapolis.

A Maryland undersea exploration company and the NOVA television program hope to solve one of the great mysteries of the century by finding the plane in which Amelia Earhart vanished over the Pacific Ocean 63 years ago."We think we have a pretty high probability of success," said David Jourdan, founder and president of Nauticos Corp., which has a track record of locating difficult-to-find wrecks, such as the Dakar, the Israeli submarine that was lost 20 years ago in the Mediterranean. Earhart, a celebrated aviator and icon of the 1930s, and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappeared July 2, 1937, while on an around-the-world flight.

COLLEGE PARK - Chris Earhart's life was headed nowhere more than two years ago as he drove a dump truck east on Route 7 near Leesburg, Va., and continued past Ashburn on the way to Tysons Corner. The 6-foot-4, 300-pound football dropout had not played a down in more than five years. He had become resigned to driving that quad-axle dump truck 50 hours a week for a land development company and helping his father milk cows on their 500-acre farm the remainder of his waking hours. Earhart had been an all-state defensive tackle at Nokesville (Va.)

A melia Earhart's name is back in the news these days with the recent release of the Hollywood biopic "Amelia," starring Hilary Swank as the ill-fated flier, and Richard Gere as George Putnam, her husband, publisher and public relations executive. Critics have not exactly given soaring reviews to this film treatment of the pioneering aviator's life and accomplishments. "The filmmakers spend so much time turning her into a dopey romantic figure that they never give her the animating, vital will or even much of a personality that might explain how a Kansas tomboy turned Boston social worker took to the skies and then, through her deeds and words, encouraged other women to chart their own courses," Manohla Dargis wrote last month in The New York Times.

Jan. 11 1935: Amelia Earhart began a trip from Honolulu to Oakland that made her the first woman to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean. 1964: U.S. Surgeon General Luther Terry issued the first government report saying smoking may be hazardous to one's health.

Based on the life of America's most famous female pilot, Amelia Earhart, the musical Amelia's Journey continues tonight through Sunday at Chesapeake Arts Center's Studio Theatre, where it premiered last July. After some fine-tuning at five shortened performances at Colonial Players during First Night Annapolis, and with more revisions at recent CAC rehearsals, the current version is tighter and faster-paced than last year's, and is enlivened by well-executed, stronger choreography and stronger supporting players.

Amelia's Journey, an original musical about America's most famous female pilot, opens tonight at Chesapeake Arts Center's Studio Theatre, where it premiered one year ago to sold-out houses for the entire run. Long fascinated with Amelia Earhart's story, Annapolis attorney and composer-lyricist Doug Schenker composed a musical about the pilot, whose fame was the creation of publisher-promoter George Palmer Putnam. About 10 years ago, Schenker engaged local playwright Linda Page to join him in bringing theatrical life to Earhart and Putnam, tracing the relationship from their first meeting in 1928 until her disappearance in 1937.

LARGER THAN LIFE Go on an expedition and visit the Elephants of Africa at www.pbs.org / wnet / nature / elephants / index.html. Encounter these enormous 12,000-pound animals in the deserts and forests of Africa. Follow the life of an elephant Learn how the ivory trade has severely diminished the elephant population. Then stop by The Poaching Problem section and read about people who are trying to stop poachers from taking elephants' beautiful ivory tusks illegally. Nominate a cool Web site at www.4Kids.

2:30 p.m. Major League --See The Soul of the Game, a film that details the competition between Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson and Jackie Robinson to become the first African-American player in baseball's major leagues, at the Enoch Pratt Free Library, 400 Cathedral St. Free. 410-396-5430. 7:30 p.m. Up and Away --Here's the last chance to see resident artist Mara Neimanis' one-woman aerial performance commemorating Amelia Earhart at the Creative Alliance at the Patterson. Neimanis, as Earhart, will be perched atop a 12-foot-tall, rotating plane sculpture, made of steel by fellow resident artist Laura Shults.

Excitement was building at a recent rehearsal for the world premiere of the musical Amelia's Journey, which opens July 16 at Chesapeake Arts Center. Cast members were on hand last weekend, as were the playwright, composer, director and choreographer. The cast and crew have been in rehearsal since March. In 1990, composer-lyricist and Annapolis attorney Doug Schenker came up with the concept of creating a musical about aviatrix Amelia Earhart and publisher and promoter George Palmer Putnam.