The Gentleman from Ohio

 

I am more than a bit embarrassed to admit that I did not realize until I finished Jeff Shesol’s quite excellent book, Mercury Rising, on Monday night that this past Sunday was the sixtieth anniversary of John Glenn’s flight in Friendship 7.   John Glenn was an American hero; simply by virtue of the way he went about his business.  Prior to being selected as one of NASA’s first astronauts, he served this nation as a United States Marine.  He flew combat missions in Korea, often times with Ted Williams as his wingman.  

While once again employing the disclaimer that unlike Oprah, I neither run a book club nor foist my taste in books on anyone else, I recommend reading Shesol’s book.  It not only pays deserved tribute to John Glenn but paints in colorfully vivid strokes the picture of what the world looked like in the Cold War 1950s and 1960s.  For those entranced by recent developments in geopolitics, it might be useful to remember or to learn just how much of history is echo and reverb.  

-AK