In 1952, celebrity outfielder Ted Williams was called up to active duty in the Korean War. Baseball’s biggest name was already an ace pilot, as skilled in the cockpit as he was on the field. John Glenn, already an experienced fighter pilot during World War II, was commissioned with The Marine Corps and had gone through months of training when he petitioned for active duty in Korea.  While stationed in Korea for combat, Glenn requested Williams to fly on his wing forging a friendship in battle that would last a lifetime and take them up into the stratosphere. Join Reading Public Library to hear more about THE WINGMEN: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship Between John Glenn and Ted Williams tracks the friendship between two wholly different American icons: how, throughout various stages in their remarkable lives, a most unusual friendship formed, flourished, withered, then reinvigorated. 

Copies of the book will be available for purchase from Whitelam Books before and after the program.

Adam Lazarus is the author of nonfiction books featuring iconic and compelling figures in American history. His previous titles include Chasing Greatness: Johnny Miller, Arnold Palmer, and the Miracle at Oakmont; Super Bowl Monday: The New York Giants, The Buffalo Bills, and Super Bowl XXV; Best of Rivals: Joe Montana, Steve Young, and the Inside Story Behind The NFL’s Greatest Quarterback Controversy; and Hail to the Redskins: Gibbs, the Diesel, the Hogs, and the Glory Days of D.C.’s Football Dynasty. He received a bachelor’s degree in English from Kenyon College in 2004 and a master’s degree in Professional Writing from Carnegie Mellon University in 2006, specializing in journalism.