John Glenn Selected to Head 1990 Rose Parade

U.S. Sen. John Glenn, a space pioneer who was one of the country’s first astronauts, on Thursday was named grand marshal of the 1990 Tournament of Roses Parade amid praise for his courage, hometown values and public service.

In a ceremony at the Tournament House in Pasadena, Glenn’s wife, Annie, received the traditional bouquet of roses, while Glenn was given a customized football helmet “modified especially for astronauts,” said tournament president Don Fedde.

“This will come in handy in the U.S. Senate, I’ll tell you that,” said Glenn, a three-term Democratic senator and one-time presidential candidate from Ohio.

Glenn, 68, a Marine Corps pilot in World War II and the Korean War, was one of the first seven U.S. astronauts named to the Mercury Project in 1959. On Feb. 20, 1962, he piloted an Atlas-Mercury spacecraft named the Friendship 7 in a triple orbit around the Earth.

After the ceremony, Glenn joked that the Friendship 7 could cover the 5 1/2-mile, two-hour parade route in 1 1/2 seconds. He also said the parade theme, “A World of Harmony,” is particularly appropriate this year with the social and political changes occurring in the Soviet Union and other communist-bloc countries.

“We may be at a watershed in history,” Glenn said, calling the political developments there “almost mind-boggling.”

The former astronaut was chosen to lead the 101st Tournament of Roses Parade on Jan. 1 because Glenn’s name “is written in history books in a hundred languages,” Fedde said.

“In seeking a grand marshal, I looked for . . . a person known the world over as a hero with steely nerves and harmonious hometown values--a grand marshal who has soared through life, and also known its occasional ups and downs,” Fedde said.

Since 1987 when the parade began its satellite broadcasting to a worldwide market, the tournament has sought to select grand marshals with international appeal. About 40 nations receive the satellite-relayed broadcast and another 50 nations are served via the Armed Forces Radio and TV Service.

This year’s grand marshal was former actress and former U.S. ambassador Shirley Temple Black. In 1988, actor Gregory Peck served as grand marshal and, in 1987, international soccer great Pele led the parade.

Discussions are still under way for broadcasting the procession in two major Asian countries that have not received parade coverage before, Fedde said.