Born in Superior and raised in northwest Wisconsin, Colonel Jeff Williams has spent over 534 days in space- the longest time logged by an American man. Now retired from the U.S. Army, Williams lives in Washington state but has returned to the Northland on occasion.

In town for one day, Williams was the guest speaker at two locations in Duluth on Friday. The first was Denfeld High School.

“I had people, teachers, and others that inspired me to go beyond where I otherwise would have and so it’s important to steward those opportunities and be an inspiration,” said Williams. “I talked to the physics class and then talked to the entire school- about a thousand kids in the auditorium there. It was a very good experience. The kids were very engaged, and we had a good discussion.” 

Williams spoke about his experience doing five spacewalks, an activity he calls “the ultimate skydive”.

“It’s the hardest thing in the whole experience physically and mentally, physically, because you’re working in a pressure suit in your hand over hand. Every time you have to move your fingers even or your forearms, it takes a lot of muscles working against the pressure of the pressure suit,” he explained. “It’s like threading needles with ski gloves on. You know, so everything is very hard. We train a lot for that.”

While in space, Williams discovered a passion for photography. Showing photos of familiar locations such as the Grand Canyon, Williams detailed how it felt to see the Earth from outer space.

“You see the entire globe of the Earth except for the North and South Pole over time, watching the seasons go by. So it’s an amazing vantage point to study the Earth,” said Williams. “You can see the atmosphere, the relative thickness of the atmosphere, and then incredible star field tunes with the Milky Way right there in the center of the view. So just an incredible advantage point.”

The other stop for his visit was the St. Louis County Depot for the 19th Annual Veterans Remembrance Dinner. Organized by St. Louis County Historical Society and its Veterans Memorial Hall program, the fundraising event included a social hour and a silent auction. Williams was the keynote speaker.

“What’s very important is that we recognize those people that have dedicated part of their life to the service of our country and for our defense and of course many gave their lives or sacrificed in other ways, injuries or whatnot, especially in the recent past with the war on terror and all the things that have been going on since then. So it’s very important to honor what has become less than 1% of our population that serve in that way,” said Williams.

After speaking at the Remembrance Dinner, Williams signed copies of his book, “The Work of His Hands: A View of God’s Creation from Space”.