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The Star of Hope hopes for a maiden voyage

By Ingrid McCleary

When I told a friend I was having some meaningful email correspondence with a man, she teased me: "I've heard about things like that. Be careful, you can get in trouble."

I reassured her that this correspondence would yield nothing but wonder because the man I was corresponding with was John McConnell, the founder of Earth Day.

Here's a man who's devoted his life to a global vision of harmony. In 1957, he proposed a visible Star of Hope satellite to broadcast earthly concerns worldwide, its nightly presence symbolizing goodwill and understanding. In 1963, John's "Minute for Peace" ended the 30-day mourning period for President Kennedy, and he continued to produce these segments for six years with remarkable results. In 1969, he designed the Earth Flag, which shows the Earth in its serene beauty as seen from the moon. This flag has been presented to presidents, foreign dignitaries and other world leaders. March 21, 1970, marked the first official Earth Day, and every year during the vernal equinox, a celebration is held at the United Nations. John then joined forces with Margaret Mead and formed the Earth Society Foundation.

Whew! And I feel good when I pick up other people's trash as I walk along the beach!

I feel honored to have crossed his path. I stumbled onto him when I tried to find out the date of Earth Day (which, I discovered, was last Wednesday).

I stumbled upon the web site, www.earthsite.org. Then, happily, I stumbled upon John.

When I discovered that the official day had already passed, I was chagrined until I realized I'd spent that day planting bulbs and thus had spent Earth Day in quiet reflection, which is what Earth Day is all about.

John recently celebrated his 83rd birthday. Two days before that, he celebrated the 28th Earth Day at the United Nations with Costa Rica, Vienna, Moscow and the Mir Space Station joining in.

An excerpt from the letter he sent to the Mir Space Station says, "You are indeed outriders of Planet Earth in its voyage through Space. Your view of our amazing planet reminds us of the words, 'We set out to explore space and discovered Earth.' "

I've ordered the Earth Flag and signed on as an Earth trustee, whereby I vowed to nurture and renew the Earth. Plus, my name will be added to the Star of Hope Memory Disk, the appeal of which you'll discover as you read on.

You'd think John would spend his octogenarian years at ease. But he has one dream yet unfulfilled: the Star of Hope satellite. The cost of launching this satellite is $10 million. In one of John's notes, he said, "Maybe there is a Bill Gates somewhere that could make it happen." I say, why not Bill Gates himself? Isn't his entire fortune derived from communication? Or how about Oprah, another master of communication? Not to fund the entire project, but to spearhead it or perhaps to offer matching funds.

The first surge of support for the Star of Hope occurred right after Sputnik was launched. Among those to sign John's original petition were Eleanor Roosevelt, U.S.S.R. delegates, atomic scientists ("Among scientists, there is no East or West") and members of Congress. Who'd think such diversity could yield such unified support? The approaching new millennium has created another wave of interest. "What better symbol of cooperation and new hope for civilization," John says, "than to begin the Space Age Millennium in 2001 with a Star of Hope?"

Can we catch this last wave and ride it home, and allow him to witness the Star of Hope's maiden voyage before he leaves this good Earth? I say yes, we can. Because his dream is our dream, and what a grand dream it is.

Because, as John says, "The Star of Hope will be visible every night on every continent, as bright as Venus, pulsing at the rate of a newborn child's heartbeat. In it will be the Star of Hope Memory Disk containing the names of all Certified Earth Trustees. A child looking up at night will say, 'That's the Star of Hope. My name is in it. I'm a trustee of Planet Earth.' "

Contributions can be made to Earth Trustees Inc., earmarked Star of Hope and sent to John McConnell, 1933 Woodbine St., Ridgewood, NY 11385.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, April 29, 1998.
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