There is a face missing at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2021 this week. One that has been a staple of the general aviation community for decades. I regret to acknowledge that Dr. Irvin Gleim has left the planet.
Like thousands before me and since, I used Gleim Publications materials to prepare for every one of my pilot-related knowledge tests. We referred to each of the red covered editions as “Gleem books” back then — as incorrect in our pronunciation as we were deeply ensconced in our initial ignorance of the material within. The name is pronounced, Gl-eye-m, with a long “I” sound in the middle. It may be of German derivation, as were my great-grandparents Frederick and Emilie Wuest. So, we had that in common. Hence, the title to this farewell.
In the many years I’ve known Dr. Gleim, I’ve only heard him referred to as “Irvin” once. He was Dr. Gleim to virtually everyone. A title he earned and certainly deserved. He was truly one of a kind.
Somehow, and it still puzzles me how I could have stumbled into such good fortune, I managed to spend six years of my working life producing content for Dr. Gleim and Gleim Publications. To be even peripherally associated with such an iconic brand name thrilled me beyond my ability to articulate my excitement.
Gleim Publications is where I met my good friend Eric Crump, now the Aerospace Program Director at Polk State College. The Gleim connection came into play again when I was fortunate enough to work with and befriend Ian Twombly at the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA). We all spent time in the Gleim Publications aviation office. A bonding experience I believe we all recall with a mixture of fondness and frustration, as workers often do.
Honestly, I have never experienced such exasperation as I did as a Gleim editor. At least in the beginning. Dr. Gleim knew what he wanted and it seemed for several months I was incapable of writing what he wanted to read. He was a perfectionist with good reason. The method of knowledge transfer he pioneered may seem common now, but there was a time when his straight to the facts method of instruction was truly revolutionary. Writing without embellishment or personal commentary was totally foreign to me. Thankfully, with some prodding and much practice, I got the hang of it and was able to be productive for several years.
When I told Dr. Gleim I was leaving his employ to go to work for AOPA, he was congratulatory and sincere. Enough so in fact to ask if he could sweeten my deal with Gleim Publications enough to entice me to stay. I declined, and we both came out well from the parting of our ways.
I’ve seen Dr. Gleim infrequently since then, but we have swapped a note or two along the way. I’ve kept some of them for posterity, because in addition to being a brilliant man who benefitted this industry tremendously, he had the capacity to be incredibly gracious.
In 2018 I took the Gleim online Flight Instructor Refresher Course as a means of renewing my flight instructor’s certificates. When I finished I wrote a quick note to my former boss thanking him for continuing to produce such high-quality content. He wrote back the following.
“Thank you for taking the time and effort to send this email. You are very kind and a good friend. We are very proud of you as a colleague and collaborator who has found so much success. Have a good day. Take Care. Dr. Irvin N. Gleim”
That may seem short and rather benign to some, but only to those who didn’t know the good doctor. To receive an e-mail from him that went beyond two sentences was rare. To receive one that shared a personal expression of caring was quite unique.
Those words mean the world to me. They are a wonderful expression of a man who was often thought of as a bookish nerd posing for a headshot in front of a wall sized shelf filled with hardcovers and collectibles. That was the public persona he projected, certainly. Dr. Gleim was far more nuanced than that, however. Let me offer an interesting example.
I often rode my motorcycle to work at Gleim Publications, but I worked in a different building from the boss. I was on the west side of Interstate 75 while he was on the east. One day he summoned me to his office to discuss something or other about the projects I was working on.
I entered his outer office carrying my helmet and was immediately welcomed into his small but tidy personal space. Noting my motorcycle helmet, Dr. Gleim began to share memories of his college days in England. He was a motorcycle fanatic. He told tales of “pulling a ton” on the British roadways. A common slang term in his youth for riding at breakneck speeds, equal to or in excess of 100 mph.
As he rolled through memories of this bike and that one, sharing tidbits relating to several two-wheeled adventures, he told me the tale of how he once rode up to Liverpool to meet up with a girl he’d met somewhere along the way. She led him to a music club in the city, below ground, where a very loud band was on stage. The Beatles.
“Wait a minute,” I stopped him, my penchant for music and pop culture kicking in hard. “You saw the Beatles play at the Cavern Club, just before they hit it big?”
Dr. Gleim simply tipped his head, returned a sly smirk, a bit of shrug, and continued his story about riding motorcycles throughout England in his youth.
He was important to me before I met him. He provided an important boost to my career at a pivotal time. He was, in a word, amazing.
Auf Wiedersehen von einem freund und mentor. Goodbye to a mentor and a friend. You were that and more, Dr. Gleim. Now, you are on to whatever comes next even as your legacy continues to benefit so many you’ve left behind.
Take care, sir. And please, give my best to John and George if you get the chance.
Hi, Jamie-
What a beautiful tribute to Dr. Gleim! He certainly touched so many lives through his publications. What a legacy! Your endearing words show such admiration and respect. They certainly left an impression on me, and those red, worn Gleim books I still have, take on a more meaningful memory. Thank you for sharing your Dr. Gleim connection!
Very touched by your sentiment, sir.
Regards/J
This is so sad. After I first saw his pilot Knowledge Test products, that’s all I used and recommended. I’ll never forget when I wrote a letter to the company address about one particular question (ages before the internet). I was amazed when I immediately received a handwritten response from Dr. Gleim himself. It was in the style just as you describe – one short sentence directly to the point, but yet it clearly explained to me the important point of the question and where I shouldn’t get sidetracked. My reaction was, wow, he’s efficient.
Quite a good article. Congrats Mr. Jamie Beckett
Not often is it so obvious that ones talent and ones passion combine and become a career. Yours has,
and your readers are grateful.
Nice job, sir.
Jamie,
Few writers have the ability to connect with readers like you do. You obviously learned something from Dr. Gleim that shows up in the quality of your own work.
Great article. Nice to recognize those have help us along the way.
What a wonderful read into the creator of Gleim Publications. I used his red books for all of my written exams. Always appreciated his simple approach to learning.