Taking flight through reading

Former Grand Forks Central Diane Odegard told yesterday's group of students and teachers at Literary Lunches that  it's "always a delight" to read from The Flight of the Odegard, a book by Patrick A. McGuire about her late husband John D.Odegard, founder and dean of UND Aerospace at the University of North Dakota. 

Below is a bit of background on the UND Aerospace program. Click the text for more.

A department which began with only two donated aircraft and two faculty, the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences has grown into one of the nation’s most widely respected aerospace education programs under his leadership. During his career as an aerospace educator, Odegard’s reputation for leadership earned him industry respect and many honors.(from the Flight of the Odegard website)

Ms Odegard read a section that chronicles when her husband went to Rushford, Minnesota to help in the celebration of the new airport there. Rob Bunke, father of Jim Bunke, one of the early students in the aviation program, was responsible for the opening of the airport.

"Early students were so very close to John," she said.

McGuire interviewed some 165-175 people to write the book, including Ms. Odegard herself.

Here is an excerpt from the book. To read more of the excerpt, click the text. 

People will say about Odegard that when he walked into a room he instantly became the dominating presence. In a space as confined as a cockpit, that same mix of reputation and charisma could easily intimidate a student. One former student who knows that first hand is Diane Odegard, who took flying lessons from John and even accumulated some hours.