Diane Rehm (80), the retired long-time host of the eponymous public radio program, is remarrying the Washington Post reports:
Rehm will marry John Hagedorn, a 77-year-old retired Lutheran minister, on Oct. 14 at Washington National Cathedral. “He’s so caring, so attentive, so warm,” she says. “Not only just to me, but to all of our friends and neighbors.”
The two met 28 years ago at a wedding for the daughter of a mutual friend. Both were married to others at the time, so it was a pleasant exchange but all but forgotten until Rehm received a letter from Hagedorn last summer.
He reintroduced himself and praised her latest book, “On My Own,” a memoir about her life as a widow (Rehm’s husband of 54 years, John, died in 2014). Hagedorn, now a widower, wrote that the book had really moved him.
“If you’re ever in Florida, please let me know,” he said. “I’d love to see you and take you for a cup of coffee.”
As it turned out, Rehm was doing a book-reading in Orlando for 1,500 fans. She emailed him with an invitation to the event, and Hagedorn drove more than three hours to attend, standing in line for two hours for a chance to speak with her.
Then the two shared what we’ll call “a moment.”
“We have a photograph taken, I sign his book,” she says. “He’s about to walk away and he turns around and looks at me. I turned around and looked at him. And something happened.”
It seems Hagedorn had been carrying a torch since they first met.
“Diane has lived in the back of my heart and soul since we first met 28 years ago,” he said in an email. “When the opportunity to meet again arose last June, I leapt at the chance. When our eyes met at the end of the meet-and-greet I said, ‘What just happened to my life?’ ”
An old-fashioned courtship ensued….
Though retired from the Diane Rehm Show radio program, Rehm carries on her trademark interviewing at https://dianerehm.org/.