COLUMBUS: When future astronaut John Glenn nestled in his bed, it may not have been sugar plums that danced in his head, but celestial bodies.

A recently discovered child’s pillowcase that belonged to the late US senator and space hero depicts revolving planets, stars and a view to outer space. At the centre, a koala bear clings to some sort of spacecraft, labelled “John” in blue embroidered cursive.

Glenn grew up to become the first American to orbit the Earth. Adam Sackowitz, a graduate student from Queens, New York, purchased the pillowcase March 8 for $2,500 at an estate sale of Glenn’s possessions. An authentication certificate says it belonged to Glenn during his childhood, which was in the 1920s and early 1930s. The Ohio native died in 2016 at age 95. Sackowitz joined the crowds of people who lined up for the estate sale in Potomac, Maryland, for the chance to buy mementos from Glenn’s life.

Published in Dawn, March 19th, 2018