Last Orbit for Glenn

NEW CONCORD, Ohio: Exactly thirty-five years after circling the earth and becoming a national hero, John Glenn announced that this time around in the U.S. Senate would be his last. Speaking at a college chapel in the town where he grew up, Glenn told a small crowd of supporters and students that his desire for public service remained strong. But “there is still no cure for the common birthday.” Glenn said, smiling. “Although my health remains excellent . . . another term in the Senate would take me at the end of that term to the age of 83.” It was a typically modest exit for a man elected in 1972 as the symbol of a glorious time of progress, and whose fourth Senate term will end in 1998. Glenn marveled at technology’s advances from his father’s time to his own, and urged the students present to take up the mantle of the coming age. “As we enter a new century, we can ill afford the freeloaders of democracy — the selfish, self-absorbed political wolves who are content to carp, complain, criticize and destroy without offering any constructive help or ideas,” he said.