James Longstreet (1821–1904) was a senior Confederate general during the American Civil War and a principal commander under Robert E. Lee. After the war he served in several U.S. government posts and later wrote memoirs defending his wartime actions.
Hendrik Willem van Loon (1882–1944) was a Dutch American historian, writer, and illustrator best known for The Story of Mankind, which won the 1922 Newbery Medal and made world history accessible to younger readers.
Jack R. Lousma (born 1936) is a U.S. Marine Corps aviator and NASA astronaut who flew on Skylab-3 in 1973 and commanded Space Shuttle Columbia’s STS-3 mission in 1982, logging over 1,600 hours in space.
Shannon Lucid (born 1943) is an American astronaut and biochemist who flew on five NASA missions and spent 188 days aboard the Russian space station Mir in 1996, then a record for the longest spaceflight by a woman.
Arie Luyendyk (born 1953) is a Dutch-American race car driver and two-time Indianapolis 500 champion, winning in 1990 and 1997. A former Formula Ford champion, he later competed successfully in IndyCar and major endurance races.
Willem Jacob Luyten (1899–1994) was a Dutch American astronomer at the University of Minnesota who became the leading authority on stellar proper motion, cataloging over 200,000 stars and discovering many nearby stars including the well-known Luyten’s Star.
Frederick Manfred (1912–1994), born Frederick Feikes Feikema VII, was a regional American novelist of Dutch Frisian heritage who wrote about the northern Plains. Over four decades he published about forty books, including the acclaimed frontier novel Lord Grizzly.
Leighton Meester (born 1986) is an American actress and singer best known for playing Blair Waldorf on the television series Gossip Girl (2007–2012). She has also appeared in films including Country Strong, Monte Carlo, and The Roommate.
Doug Meijer is an American businessman and co-chairman of the Meijer retail chain. The grandson of founder Hendrik Meijer, he helped lead the family-owned supercenter company’s expansion across the Midwest alongside his brothers.
Hendrik Meijer (1883–1964) was a Dutch American entrepreneur who founded the Meijer grocery business in Michigan in 1934. His company pioneered the American supercenter retail concept and later expanded into a major Midwestern retail chain.
