(I can’t figure a more appropriate place on the board besides CS)
I feel like this is the right place for this. Especially thanks to the movie making him almost a household name.
I have an autographed copy of Apollo 13, though it was given to me as a gift and I didn’t get to meet Lovell when he signed it. He was quite the aviator. Not too many Apollo guys remaining.
I read his book Lost Moon after seeing both the PBS documentary Apollo 13 To the Edge and Back and the Ron Howard Movie.
What a story!
I’ve always found it intriguing that people who survive harrowing near-death situations, like Apollo 13 or Holocaust survivors, usually live a much longer life than normal folks. It’s like life’s way of compensating by giving an extra-time bonus. RIP Lovell.
RIP
The astronauts were heroes of mine growing up. I spent hours in front of the TV watching coverage of the missions. I sent fan mails to NASA asking for photographs and any public relations stuff they could send me. I still have the packet of offical 8x10 portraits from 1966. Here’s Jim Lovell’s:
Both Lovell and Fred Heise lived into their 90s, but Jack Swigert died of cancer at 51.
Lovell was one of my favorites of the old-school astronauts. Though I never had the chance to meet him, he always came across, in the various interviews I saw of him, as well-spoken and very human.
He had a brief cameo at the end of Apollo 13 where he plays the Captain of the USS Iwo Jima and shakes Jim Lovell’s (Tom Hanks) hand.
Rest in Peace, sir. I enjoyed your book Lost Moon, then loved the Ron Howard movie.
I have a lot of signed astronaut bios, but not a Lovell.
My brother-in-law used to work as a chef in Lovell’s Chicago restaurant. I have a signed photo of the moon from him. RIP