Flying High with Gringo Billy

The U.S. justice system became notorious for the brutally long sentences handed out to peaceful marijuana smugglers and dealers in the later decades of the twentieth century. Meanwhile, the general public remains fascinated by the adventurers and entrepreneurs who gambled with their freedom and lives in pursuit of wealth or excitement but never entered the world of violence that is associated with much criminal activity. Probably no group among them are more foolish and attractive than the men who flew oceans and mountains in often unreliable machines.

Flying High contributes significantly to the smuggling genre in two respects. First, Billy Dekle wrote his account of just three years in his frenetic and fearless career at the very start of his life sentence. The result is something exquisitely detailed, its adventures recounted as they were lived - from moment to moment. Second, his wife Kay Dekle, who could not hope to be with her husband again, parallels Billy's account with her own: with few resources she would have to carry the responsibilities of a family life as best she could. A strong woman by nature, bound by loyalty to those she loved.

Fear, excitement, love, loyalty, heart-stopping risk, laughter, sex, betrayal, and death. The Dekles paid a steep price for Billy's choices and this story is the harvest they reaped.