美国国家公共电台 NPR--Remembering Mary Barr, the first woman to fly for the U.S. Forest Service

Remembering Mary Barr, the first woman to fly for the U.S. Forest Service

Transcript¹

Two sisters discuss growing up in California in the 1960s with their mother Mary Barr, who guided tanker² planes on a safe path through wildfires.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's Friday, which is when we hear from StoryCorps. And this morning, we hear of a woman who fought wildfires. Mary Barr was the first woman to fly for the U.S. Forest Service, guiding tanker planes on a safe path through the flames. She flew a tiny airplane, a kind of guide. Her daughters, Molly and Nevada Barr, recently came to StoryCorps to recall growing up with their mom in the 1960s in California.

MOLLY BARR: We rarely saw our mother during fire season because she would get up before dawn, and she would be flying all day.

NEVADA BARR: She would fly down as close into the forest fires as she could get. And then these big old biplane bombers³ from World War II would follow down on her tail and dump the borate slosh on the fires. I mean, it's just scary as hell. But Mama just thought it was great. She kind of taught us to be our own people because she had a determination to do what she needed and wished to do that was pretty impressive.

M BARR: You know, actually, I have a picture of her, not a picture in my hand, but in my head.

N BARR: Do it. Tell it.

M BARR: She's got a leather engraved⁴ belt.

N BARR: Says Mary across the back.

M BARR: And she always wore one of those big, Western, silver belt buckles⁵. I remember going into the store. We were going to buy Mom a birthday present. The lady who was helping⁶ us said, well, here's some nice dresses, you know? What does your mom like? And we said, well, our mother doesn't wear dresses.

N BARR: And my girlfriend said, that's Mrs. Barr. And the storekeeper went, oh, OK. The Levi's are right over here.

M BARR: (Laughter).

N BARR: And she didn't much care what other people thought - or if she did, she hid it really well. When Mama decided⁷ to go full-time⁸ with the Forest Service, she knew for a fact that as a female pilot, she had to be twice as good, twice as calm in the face of upsets, to get anywhere. But because she had so many flight hours on her Forest Service application, it looked like a lie. So she reduced the number of hours she had in the air. Mama was a daredevil and loved the red lights and sirens. But...

M BARR: She was painfully shy.

N BARR: Yes.

M BARR: When she was inducted into the Hall of Fame, we had this big dinner. And they took photos. And as we were driving home, she says, that was really special. She says, I wish I'd enjoyed it more.

(LAUGHTER)

M BARR: How do you think she'll be remembered?

N BARR: You know, you don't know who's watching you. And I think Mama's legacy⁹ is just going to leak out in the fact that she was courageous¹⁰, determined¹¹ over and over and over again. She just kept dropping drips of courage and determination. And we were filled with them, and I think a lot of people around her were.

M BARR: Any time a woman goes out and does what she wants to and succeeds, it makes it easier.

N BARR: Yeah. She was just living her life the way she wanted.

(SOUNDBITE OF BLUE DOT SESSIONS' "VITTORO")

INSKEEP: Nevada and Molly Barr recalling their mother, Mary Barr, for StoryCorps. Mary was inducted into the Women's Aviation Hall of Fame. She died in 2010.

(SOUNDBITE OF BLUE DOT SESSIONS' "VITTORO")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 tanker   

n.油轮

参考例句：

• The tanker took on 200,000 barrels of crude oil.油轮装载了二十万桶原油。
• Heavy seas had pounded the tanker into three parts.汹涌的巨浪把油轮撞成三载。

3 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 engraved   

v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的过去式和过去分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中）

参考例句：

• The silver cup was engraved with his name. 银杯上刻有他的名字。
• It was prettily engraved with flowers on the back. 此件雕刻精美，背面有花饰图案。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 buckles   

搭扣，扣环( buckle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She gazed proudly at the shiny buckles on her shoes. 她骄傲地注视着鞋上闪亮的扣环。
• When the plate becomes unstable, it buckles laterally. 当板失去稳定时，就发生横向屈曲。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

9 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

10 courageous   

adj.勇敢的，有胆量的

参考例句：

• We all honour courageous people.我们都尊重勇敢的人。
• He was roused to action by courageous words.豪言壮语促使他奋起行动。

11 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。