Reflecting on the various chapters of my life, Elementary school ranks pretty high on the dreary list. Fifth - grade was particularly tedious and the only incentive attending class was to flirt with a cute little redhead named Brenda. When not chasing her, I could be found in a back corner of the school 's modest library reading books on rockets and space travel. It was during these periods of solitude when I fancied myself sitting atop a Saturn V rocket and blasting off to the moon. Not only would the scenario have impressed Brenda, It would have distanced me from the bullies lurking outside the playground.
Commencing with Astronaut John Glenn 's historic orbital flight, I had watched every consecutive manned space launch from project Mercury to the final Apollo 17 moon launch which I personally photographed at age 15. Because my family resided on the West Coast, I regularly rose at
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Hoover, a former country and western singer, had the innate ability to muster some of the most interesting stories I have ever photographed. His disarming folksy manner could bag an interview with Genghis Khan. But undeniably, his exclusive interview with Buzz Aldrin on-board the Norwegian Cruise Line 's Pride of Aloha berthed in Honolulu Harbor was one of the highlights of my career.
While exiting the Aloha Tower parking lot near the ship 's harbor, I asked myself “what question had Aldrin never been asked in his career”? Finally aboard the cruise liner, Will must have chuckled, as I frantically searched the dining area for the astronaut. Then suddenly, a familiar face approached me and said “Well, you are probably looking for me”. After introducing myself to Buzz Aldrin, I thought to myself, “My God, I just shook hands with a man who walked on the surface of the