From the shadows of beyond the words pour forth like summer rain…. The Jack and Helen Frye Story is much more than the chronology of two people’s lives, it’s a spiritual quest, a yearning from the heart of soul-mates Helen and Jack who desire their story to be told, their priceless paths not be erased! Time has a way of forgetting who was, and what was, but the written word lays it all at our feet. From a small town in West Virginia, to the gold-paved streets of Fifth Avenue, Helen Varner knew she was born to walk a path; a path that would lead her far and away from her origins. Her talents as a hat-maker and seamstress, writer, sculptor, and artist, opened doors to a gilded and rose-hued horizon. Within these pages, unfolds the sojourn of a woman who knows what she wants and goes after it. Voluptuous and beautiful, the world’s most powerful men fall at her feet. In 1935, 26-year-old Helen Varner marries 36-year-old playboy Cornelius Vanderbilt IV. Later, after a separation, she moves to mystical Shanghai and Hollywood. By 1938, Helen meets the love of her life, aviation-legend Jack Frye. As President of TWA, Frye trail-blazes the dawning of aviation and tames Helen’s heart with his fleet of sleek airliners and big western charm. Jack and Helen marry by January 1941, and embark on the wings of an American Love Story, as only soul mates can share. In flights over the Western United States in their private plane, Jack and Helen settle on the Red Rock Country of Sedona Arizona to build a new life together. With a grand act of chivalry, Jack buys a massive ranch adjoining Oak Creek and hands the deed to Helen. Frye and Howard Hughes develop the Lockheed Constellation during W.W. II and Frye loans his planes to the U.S. Government, culminating in a wartime partnership with the White House. Meanwhile, Helen secures a grand colonial mansion on the shores of the Potomac, as a political power-center for TWA, and a home. By war’s end, in 1946, TWA has gained enough experience flying war personnel overseas, for Jack to secure the world’s commercial air routes. Jack’s dream of the first transatlantic commercial air service and round-the-world passenger travel is realized and the ‘Camelot Years of TWA’ have unfolded! By 1950, after Helen and Jack divorce, Helen remains at their Sedona Ranch. Soon though, she is engaged to Tyrone Power. Later still, she plans a re-marriage to Frye. Tragically, though, Frye is killed by a drunk driver, returning home from a secret meeting with Howard Hughes at Tucson. Sinking into the depths of despair, Helen becomes fodder for a notorious new-age cult called Eckankar. By 1979, she dies of cancer, but not before the group fleeces her of most her assets. Helen’s Will is burned by an ex-cult member con artist who had craftily befriended Helen before her death with his youthful charm ending her saga with a sensational estate trial. Is this really the end of Helen’s story? Thankfully, no, Helen saw to that! Reaching across the sands of time, she engaged the services of a kindred spirit, a member of her soul-family, a writer with the passion and dedication to insure that she and Jack; their ‘telling’ was not forgotten. Welcome to the World of Jack and Helen Frye! Note: (The Jack & Helen Frye Story – The Camelot Years of TWA is a Biography, however, it is written in a Novel format. This to reflect a movie script style for future development.) Cover photo by Randall Reynolds- Helen Frye’s Wings of the Wind House- View of Cathedral Rock to the North.
