Lecture Date: February 4, 2025
The Davenport & Company Lecture
It was 1953, the Korean War in full throttle, when two men—already experts in their fields—crossed the fabled 38th Parallel into Communist airspace aboard matching Panther jets. John Glenn was an ambitious operations officer with fifty-nine World War II combat missions under his belt. His wingman was Ted Williams, the two-time American League Triple Crown winner who, at the pinnacle of his career, had been inexplicably recalled to active service in the United States Marine Corps. Together, the affable flier and the notoriously tempestuous left fielder soared into North Korea, creating a death-defying bond.
Although, over the next half century, their contrasting lives were challenged by exhilarating highs and devastating lows, that bond would endure. In his fifth book, The Wingmen, author Adam Lazarus sheds light on a largely forgotten chapter in these legends’ lives—as singular individuals, inspiring patriots, and eventually, however improbable, profoundly close friends. Through unpublished letters, unit diaries, declassified military records, manuscripts, and new and illuminating interviews, The Wingmen reveals an epic and intimate portrait of two heroes—larger-than-life and yet ineffably human, ordinary men who accomplished the extraordinary. At its heart, this was a conflicted friendship that found commonality in mutual respect—throughout the perils of war, sports dominance, scientific innovation, cutthroat national politics, the burden of celebrity, and the meaning of bravery.
Speaker: Adam Lazarus
Adam Lazarus is an author specializing in non-fiction books that feature great figures and characters. His fourth book, about Joe Gibbs and the dynastic Washington Redskins of the 1980s and 1990s, came out in September 2015. Hail to the Redskins features more than 90 original interviews and over two dozen photographs. His third book, Best of Rivals, is about the famous quarterback controversy between Joe Montana and Steve Young. Super Bowl Monday, his second book, centers on Super Bowl XXV, one of the greatest games in NFL history, and its intersection with Operation Desert Storm. Chasing Greatness—his first book, about the unforgettable 1973 U.S. Open at Oakmont—was mentioned in Sports Illustrated.
Work by Lazarus has appeared in ESPN the Magazine, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Bleacher Report, Golf Magazine, and USA Today. 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.