Annie Glenn

Anna Margaret Castor was born on February 17, 1920, in Columbus, Ohio, to Homer and Margaret (Alley) Castor. Her father was a dentist. In 1923, the Castor family moved to New Concord, Ohio.

Castor met John Glenn at a very young age when her parents became involved in the same community organizations as Glenn's parents. The families developed a friendship which allowed Castor and Glenn to remain close as they grew up. The pair became high school sweethearts and continued dating through college. Castor attended Muskingum College where she majored in music with a minor in secretarial skills and physical education. Castor was an active member of the swim team, volleyball team, and tennis team. She graduated in 1942. Even though she received an offer for a pipe organ scholarship from the Juilliard School, Castor declined the offer, choosing instead to stay in Ohio with Glenn. Castor and Glenn were married on April 6, 1943. They had two children, David, born in 1945, and Lyn, born in 1947.

In 1983, Glenn received the first national award of the American Speech and Hearing Association for her meritorious service to those with communicative disorders. In 1987, the National Association for Hearing and Speech Action awarded the first annual Annie Glenn Award for achieving distinction despite a communication disorder. Glenn presented the award to James Earl Jones as its first recipient. She was inducted into the National Stuttering Association Hall of Fame in 2004. In 2015, The Ohio State University renamed 17th Avenue (on its campus) to Annie and John Glenn Avenue.

Glenn was played by Mary Jo Deschanel in the 1983 film The Right Stuff. The film highlighted her stutter, particularly in a scene involving U.S. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson. In a 2015 interview, she and John Glenn indicated that, although they liked the Tom Wolfe book, they did not care for the movie adaptation of The Right Stuff.

In 2009, the Ohio State University awarded her an honorary Doctorate of Public Service to recognize her work on behalf of children and others. The department awards the "Annie Glenn Leadership Award" annually to a person that has displayed innovative and inspirational work in speech/language pathology.

In the 2015 ABC-TV series The Astronaut Wives Club, she is portrayed by Azure Parsons and in the 2020 Disney+ series The Right Stuff by Nora Zehetner.

At the time of her husband's death in December 2016, Annie and John Glenn had been married for 73 years and eight months. During the course of their marriage, the couple had two children—John David, born in 1945, and Carolyn Ann, born in 1947—and two grandchildren.

Glenn turned 100 in February 2020. Three months later, on May 19, 2020, she died at a nursing home in Saint Paul, Minnesota, from complications of COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic in Minnesota.

Annie Glenn's 90th Birthday Party

Annie Glenn at the 90th birthday party held for her at the John Glenn School of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University.