Star of Hope

When Russia launched its first satellite, Sputnik, in 1957, John owned a weekly newspaper in North Carolina. And while the majority of U.S. citizens felt shame that Russia had "won the Space Race," John was among an influential minority of Americans who believed that the Soviet Union should be complimented. He wrote an editorial in which he advocated that the U.S. and the USSR work together to jointly launch a satellite with a solar-powered light and reflective surface that would be visible from Earth. John believed that this satellite would be a "Star of Hope" for all humanity, signaling cooperation, rather than competition, in space. Within a week, John's editorial was reprinted in major daily newspapers across the nation, and his concept was espoused by leading government advisors, including the noted Dr. S. Fred Singer, director of the Center for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Maryland and advisor to President Dwight Eisenhower. The Star of Hope satellite was never launched, per se. Yet, in 1962, the U.S. government did begin to hint at the fiscal benefits of joint space exploration with other countries. With the launching of the Mir Space Station, which was populated by U.S. astronauts, Russian cosmonauts, and space scientists from other nations, in the 1980s, John's vision, to some extent, became a reality.

Meals for Millions

In the early 1960s, John joined and became a director in San Francisco for a major campaign to feed refugees who had fled from Hong Kong to find homes in the City by the Bay. A photograph of himself with President Dwight Eisenhower and Jimmie Tom, a second-grade student in San Francisco's Chinatown, is among John McConnell's prized possessions. In that photo, John looks on as President Eisenhower places currency in a "share-bank," which was a small milk carton converted into a money bank for the Meals for Millions campaign.

Minute for Peace

At the same time, John McConnell envisioned that peace on Earth could be realized if enough people would devote just one minute three times a day to silent thoughts of peace. He coined this concept "Minute for Peace," and he enlisted friends in the national broadcasting industry to promote the idea. When President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on 22 November 1963, the nation entered a 30-day Period of Mourning. At noon on December 22, dozens of radio and television stations across the nation broadcast one minute of silence, a Minute for Peace, and John McConnell was the impetus for that phenomenon.

Anna, John Paul and Christa Marie

The tall and handsome John McConnell and the petite and lovely Anna Marie Zacharias met fortuitously at a prayer meeting at St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Brooklyn, New York in 1965. Anna had sung professionally in opera as a younger woman but gave up that career when called by the Lord into education. At the time they met, Anna was the principal and kindergarten teacher at St. Mark's elementary school, and John had traveled from California to promote and be responsible for San Francisco's Minute for Peace exhibit at the New York World's Fair. John attended the prayer meeting at the suggestion of a Lutheran minister who thought St. Mark's might be a speaking venue for him. John and Anna dated for two years before marrying on Christmas Day, 1967. Their "dates" usually consisted of attending diplomatic-type meetings that John arranged or quiet meals that Anna prepared in her apartment. She expressed delight at John's great ability to sing and play numerous religious songs on her piano. Anna gave birth to two children: John Paul, who had Down Syndrome and died at age 14 months, and Christa Marie who is a singer and musician and is married to Garin Paul Mason. Christa and Garin have two children: Hannah Rose and Bethany Anne. Throughout most of their marriage, Anna continued teaching within the Lutheran School system, earning a meager wage typical of parochial school teachers. At home, she supported John's numerous ventures, providing much needed secretarial support and a domestic foundation. She also accompanied John on his travels, when possible. She is the principal organizers of his numerous essays and correspondence and is primarily responsible for the donation of their historical documents to the Swarthmore College Peace Collection archives in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Today, John and Anna live in a modest retirement village in Denver, Colorado, near their daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren.

When I went into Lutheran school teaching, I knew I would never earn the money of a public school teacher. But when we do the work of the Lord, we're not going to have the money of the world.- Anna McConnell, 2004, reflecting on her life

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