![]() When World War II erupted, he became a military reconnaissance pilot until the German occupation forced him to flee France. Neither Saint-Exupéry’s growing literary success nor the disabilities resulting from several plane crashes could tear him away from his calling as a pilot. Saint-Exupéry’s 1939 memoir Wind, Sand, and Stars, which includes an account of the events, surpassed the success of his earlier works, winning the prestigious Grand Prize for Novel Writing from the Académie Française and the National Book Award in the United States. En route, his plane crashed in the Sahara, and he and his copilot wandered the desert for days, nearly dying of exposure and dehydration before being rescued by a wandering Bedouin. Among the most eventful of these sojourns was his 1935 attempt to break the air-speed record between Paris and Saigon. Though they would remain together, by all accounts their marriage was a troubled one due to Saint-Exupéry’s infidelities and frequent absences. In 1931, Saint-Exupéry also married for the first time, to Salvadoran writer and artist Consuelo Suncin. Night Flight would become his first true literary success, receiving the Prix Femina literary prize and later being adapted into a 1933 Hollywood film starring John Barrymore, Helen Hayes, and Clark Gable. His similarly themed Night Flight was published in 1931 after he returned from a two-year posting in Argentina, where he had helped to establish an airmail system. His experiences there informed his first novel, Southern Mail, which celebrated the courage of pilots, and was published in 1929. ![]() In 1927, Saint-Exupéry was placed in charge of an airfield in the Sahara. ![]() The remainder of Saint-Exupéry’s life would be defined by the intertwining of his dual occupations as aviator and author, with the former providing the inspiration for his literary work. He published his first work, "The Aviator," in 1926, the same year that he returned to flying as a mail pilot with the aviation company Aéropostale in Toulouse, covering routes between France, Spain, and North Africa. While working various jobs, Saint-Exupéry began to write stories inspired by his experiences as a pilot. However, when their relationship failed shortly thereafter, Saint-Exupéry returned to his first love, flying, and developed a new passion as well - writing. His engagement to a young woman resulted in Saint-Exupéry leaving the air force in 1922. Saint-Exupéry became a pilot in the air force the following year, based in North Africa. Initially working as a mechanic in the army, he learned how to fly. ![]()
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