Join us as we welcome original member of the Mercury 13, Wally Funk, for a presentation and book signing. Funk, who now has over 18,000 hours of flight time, went through testing at Lovelace Clinic in the early 1960s to try to become one of the first female astronauts. Thirteen women (known as the Mercury 13) qualified for this program and passed all of the tests, only to have the program shut down by Congress. It was over 20 years later when America finally had a female astronaut. After the cancellation of the program, Funk continued to fly as a goodwill ambassador, taught over 3,000 students as a flight instructor, and was the first female to be an Air Safety Investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board. She has participated in several air races, appeared on various television and radio programs, and enjoys encouraging young people to get into aviation. Funk still hopes to get into space as part of the Virgin Galactic Space program.

Dinner will begin at 6:30 p.m. with presentation and signing to follow.

The 2018 Dinner Series is made possible from the residents of Cuyahoga County through a grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.