posted 06-28-2012 09:16 PM               

Last night astronaut and NASA administrator Charles Bolden gave the annual John H. Glenn Lecture at the National Air and Space Museum. I had two tickets for the overflow area. This would be the first time I've been out there for a lecture, but I was fine with that because the second ticket was for my three-year-old son. I realized he might not last the entire talk, but I really wanted him to see John Glenn because without my pushing too hard he is turning into quite the Junior Space Geek, and I knew that seeing the first American to orbit the Earth would make a big impression on him. It would be easy to make a quiet early exit from the overflow area.

When we got to the museum, I was told that because of so many no-shows we'd been upgraded to the theater. In fact they weren't going to be having an overflow area at all. After being assured that we wouldn't be taking tickets away from someone who would definitely make it through the whole talk, at about 6:45 I started strolling around with Benjamin in the virtually empty museum — it had closed at 5:30 to anyone without lecture tickets. We checked out Friendship 7, the Gemini IV capsule, and Columbia. He loved seeing how jet engines work in one gallery.

I picked up some brochures for us to look at in the theater, then made one last stop over near the lunar module. That's when I somehow recognized the back of John Glenn's head from about 200 feet away — he was with a few other people looking at some display cases of Apollo hardware, I believe.

Benjamin and I headed over next to Skylab, and when Glenn walked over Benjamin was able to give him a polite hello and I asked if I could take a picture of them together. Glenn took a break from telling Benjamin that he liked his rocket t-shirt to say, "Sure, but let's get him up here for a better picture" and then John Glenn, who will be turning 91 years old in three weeks, picked up my son like he was a puppy and sat him on a pedestal-like post that happened to be part of a display. (Right next to a model of a Mercury capsule with the red escape tower still attached, actually.)

So to sum up... wow. Just wow. We saw at his Lindbergh lecture last month how mentally sharp he still is, and now it turns out he's still in good enough shape to not think twice about picking up a kid if he thought it would make the lad and his father happy. And what a tremendously kind man.

posted 07-03-2012 11:19 PM               

I am still waiting for my signed item I sent back in early February, but have no concerns about receiving it. I heard it could take a while especially since this is the 50th anniversary year of his first orbital flight.

posted 07-23-2013 07:24 PM               

Today, a colleague of mine brought in a FDC signed by John Glenn. He mentioned how he followed up on something I said to him a few months ago about Glenn still generously donating his time reaching out to the public to provide autographs.

He told me how he went back into his childhood memories box to find a Mercury stamp FDC cover he bought when he was 9 years old (in 1962 I think). He sent the item to Glenn and received it back signed after 5 weeks.

posted 10-22-2013 08:03 AM               

He signed a few vintage press photos for my sons and me. This guy is the same hero he was 50 years ago. Even at 92 years old, he always makes time to sign for us. Won't charge a cent.

posted 06-11-2014 05:43 PM               

The 92-year-old underwent a heart valve replacement at the Cleveland Clinic in May.

Hank Wilson, spokesman for the OSU John Glenn School for Public Affairs, says Glenn is doing well and looks forward to celebrating his birthday on July 18.