At Hawthorn Hill, we talked about how there are no videos that include audio of Orville speaking, because he was so painfully shy, and as I researched Annie, I discovered that she had a major stuttering problem.
Author and CNN contributor Bob Greene wrote on CNN.com about Annie’s struggles with stuttering, “Her stuttering was so severe that it was categorized as an 85% disability. Eighty-five percent of the time she could not manage to make words come out."
As John and Annie traveled and moved around because of his work with the military, she was constantly faced with ridicule and hardship every time they settled into a new city.
“In department stores, she would wander unfamiliar aisles trying to find the right section, embarrassed to attempt to ask the salesclerks for help,” Greene wrote. “In taxis, she would have to write requests to the driver, because she couldn’t speak the destination out loud. In restaurants, she would point to the items on the menu.”
In 1973, at the age of 53, an intensive program was able to help Annie speak more fluently. She has now served as a longtime spokesperson for the Stuttering Foundation, and in 2005 was inducted into the National Stuttering Association Hall of Fame - which is a support group organized to help people who stutter.
I found this quote of John Glenn speaking about his wife: “I saw Annie’s perseverance and strength through the years and it just made me admire her and love her even more, I don’t know if I would have had the courage.” I found this to be beautiful and moving, because so many of us wouldn't have had the courage to be the first American to orbit around the Earth or be the 5th person in space, but he saw his wife as being the truly brave one.
(The film clip that I've posted is from the 1983 movie "The Right Stuff" - we see her stuttering problem highlighted in a scene with VP Lyndon B. Johnson right before Glenn's Friendship 7 Flight. And the pictures are of Annie and John- check them out!)
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