What could be more fitting that, on the heels of the month where we celebrate the incredible voyage of Christopher Columbus, I feel compelled to share my thoughts on the movie First Man. The film depicts the life of Neil Armstrong and culminates in his historic voyage to the moon, a feat of exploration that, at the time and even today, has been compared with Columbus for its historical significance.
Imagine combining 2001: A Space Odyssey with The Right Stuff, then throwing in a pinch of Titanic at the end. That describes First Man.
First things first. Speaking of 2001, there’s a joke going around that Stanley Kubrik allowed Continue Reading “First Man – A Titanic Odyssey of The Right Stuff”
To the Moon and Back: A Personal Retrospective
To boldly go…
The Quest…
Man’s calling…
To boldly go…
As simple as opening the door to a strange room.
As complicated as unlocking the key to a new science.
The urge impels us all to take that first step into unchartered terrain.
Some would rather give others the initial chance.
But there comes a point when human nature drives us to follow those pioneers into a new land of innovation and invention.
That’s when we undertake The Quest.
The Quest.
To discover the undiscovered.
To explore the unexplored.
To know the unknown.
* * * * *
I wanted to write something special, something personal, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of mankind’s greatest voyage of exploration since Columbus… so far. It didn’t take me long to realize I had already written it and it had already appeared in The Sentinel. This Commentary originally appeared as “The Thrill of Beyond” in the July 20, 1989 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel to mark the 20th anniversary of America’s lunar landing. Here it is in its entirety. (Click the link in the title to see the original in text form.)
Continue Reading “To the Moon and Back: A Personal Retrospective”