In life, journalist Jacques Tiziou amassed an extensive space exploration archive. Now, his son is seeking help in finding a home for the myriad of documents, memorabilia and "space junk" that his late father left behind.
...the Kickstarter campaign aims to underwrite that effort while also cleaning many of the odds and ends that Tiziou was fond of giving out.
"I'd love for all these rocket fragments and spaceship bits and signed prints and patches and pins to go to space geeks who would love them, and it is what he wanted," said JJ. "By becoming a backer of this project, you will help me create a memorial to Jacques and save his collection."
SpaceAholic Member
Posts: 4437 From: Sierra Vista, Arizona Registered: Nov 1999
posted 03-16-2019 09:50 AM
Touching but just dont get it... individuals are to contribute for the privilege of learning when/where the benefactor is going to sell his bequeathed "space junk." Any sale (unless via private treatise) is going to become public knowledge and given the son apparently understands his inheritance is marketable/can be used to raise money, crowdfunding seems to be a bit incongruent if not a little odd.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42981 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 03-16-2019 12:22 PM
From what I understand, most of Tiziou's collection was paper-based: documents, NASA press releases, photos and the like. NASA and the Smithsonian took 180 boxes of that and still left behind a large amount. Here is Holly McIntyre, an archivist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, describing what she and her colleagues found:
While some documents have a market value, I think Jean-Jacques Tiziou's desire is to find (and maybe fund) a new home for the collection, such that the Jacques Tiziou archive can live on in his memory.
As for the Kickstarter, not only would it help in that effort, but it is also helping clear out the odds and ends that would not be appropriate for an archive and are not the type of items an auction house would be keen to take (other than perhaps offering them in one big lot). Here is Emily Carney of the Space Hipsters group on Facebook providing an example of the "space junk" being offered as Kickstarter rewards:
And here a look at the collection's space collectibles, some of which is being used for the reward boxes:
Ken Havekotte Member
Posts: 2913 From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard Registered: Mar 2001
posted 03-16-2019 01:41 PM
It was fun in seeing/examining Emily's opened sample space treasure box from veteran French aerospace journalist Jacques Tizou, however, she passed over one of my flown ASTP/CM-111 Kapton certs that was right behind all of the postcards.
Jacques and I were avid long-time space collecting buddies since the 1970's. We were always trading space souvenirs between us and did lots of astrophilately projects together in addition to other space-related joint efforts.
Robert is correct, though in most assumptions, in that Tiziou was mainly a paper-based collector of sorts, however, he did acquire lots of flown space artifacts and hardware from my own accumulations, but mostly during the shuttle program years.
We both shared a similar "space collecting" passion and dedication of our space exploration efforts that I have not seen in anybody else. He had an eye for detail and proper certification of the space material that he handled and distributed.
Jacques was a great guy and was an inspiration to me when starting my own aerospace memorabilia collections once the space bug hit me as a teen.
He is very much missed, especially during his many Cape-area visits to my home and our visits together at the NASA/DOD/Contractor news/press centers and viewing sites.
I've already placed my order for one of the kickstarter campaign "space junk" boxes.
apollo16uvc Member
Posts: 123 From: Next to LEM, Descartes Highlands, Moon Registered: Jan 2017
posted 03-16-2019 04:34 PM
If Jacques needs any help digitizing computer (data, backup, open reel etc), audio and video tapes, diskettes, zip drives, hard drives and other obscure media I would be glad to help!
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42981 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 03-26-2019 11:59 AM
The Kickstarter campaign has surpassed its $30,000 goal with 133 backers and six more days to go, but the rewards are no longer available because...
This is thanks to an individual backer who not only had the resources to help us reach the funding threshold, but to also provide a home for the remainder of the collection... which is pretty exciting and means that more of it will stay together and be preserved for posterity.
This individual isn't just a collector, but is also an owner of one of the prominent US rocket companies. They plan to properly archive and catalogue Jacques' collection and to have segments of it on display to the public and accessible to researchers. A press release with more info about the collector, their company and plans for the collection will be coming.