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Author Topic:   Dear Neil Armstrong (James R. Hansen)
Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 49690
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 03-14-2016 05:10 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Coming in 2019 from WW Norton & Company:
Historian and NYT bestselling author of "First Man," the authorized biography of Neil Armstrong, James Hansen's "Dear Neil Armstrong" featuring 200 of the tens of thousands of letters sent to Armstrong after the lunar landing — from children across America, admirers around the world, and such notable figures as Isaac Asimov, Brigitte Bardot, Richard Nixon, Elvis Presley, and John Wayne — capturing the glory of the Moon shot and the dignity of Armstrong himself, to be published to mark the 50th anniversary of the lunar landing in 2019.

David C
Member

Posts: 1378
From: Lausanne
Registered: Apr 2012

posted 03-14-2016 08:28 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for David C     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Unusual. Going to have to see it before commenting further.

garymilgrom
Member

Posts: 2097
From: Atlanta, GA
Registered: Feb 2007

posted 03-14-2016 08:37 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for garymilgrom   Click Here to Email garymilgrom     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
This seems interesting - from children to the President, a slice of America's response to the first crewed moon landing. And Hansen is a terrific author or editor for the project. I can't wait.

rjurek349
Member

Posts: 1223
From: Northwest Indiana
Registered: Jan 2002

posted 03-14-2016 04:47 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for rjurek349   Click Here to Email rjurek349     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
This is exciting. One of my favorite "unusual" space books is "Letters to John Glenn: P.S. I Listened To Your Heartbeat," which is a collection of letters Glenn received from around the world after his historic orbital flight. It was put out by World Book in 1964, as part of the Life/World Book contract with the astronauts on their personal stories.

It's a fun read — and reminds me, in an odd way, of a Studs Terkel approach... a lens into the minds and thoughts of the people during such an historic event. Really looking forward to seeing this in print.

Blackarrow
Member

Posts: 3539
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 03-14-2016 05:29 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Blackarrow     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Very interesting. As a 15-year-old, I wrote to Neil Armstrong (in 1970). He replied within a few weeks (the letter is neatly signed in blue ballpoint). Would the publishers try to contact me if they want to include my letter? (For the record, Mr. Hansen, you have my permission!)

cspg
Member

Posts: 6330
From: Geneva, Switzerland
Registered: May 2006

posted 03-03-2019 09:24 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for cspg   Click Here to Email cspg     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Dear Neil Armstrong: Letters to the First Man on the Moon
Edited by James R. Hansen
In the years between the historic first moon landing by Apollo 11 on July 20, 1969, and his death at age 82 on August 25, 2002, Neil Armstrong received hundreds of thousands of cards and letters from all over the world, congratulating him, praising him, requesting pictures and autographs, and asking him what must have seemed to him to be limitless ― and occasionally intrusive ― questions. Of course, all the famous astronauts received fan mail, but the sheer volume Armstrong had to deal with for more than four decades after his moon landing was staggering.

Today, the preponderance of those letters ― some 75,000 of them ― are preserved in the archives at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Dear Neil Armstrong: Letters to the First Man on the Moon publishes a careful sampling of these letters ― roughly 400 ― reflecting the various kinds of correspondence that Armstrong received along with representative samples of his replies.

Selected and edited by James R. Hansen, Armstrong's authorized biographer and author of the New York Times best seller First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong, this collection sheds light on Armstrong's enduring impact and offers an intimate glimpse into the cultural meanings of human spaceflight. Readers will explore what the thousands of letters to Neil Armstrong meant not only to those who wrote them, but as a snapshot of one of humankind's greatest achievements in the twentieth century. They will see how societies and cultures projected their own meanings onto one of the world's great heroes and iconic figures.

Blackarrow
Member

Posts: 3539
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 03-03-2019 12:01 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Blackarrow     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
As a matter of interest, do we know if Mr. Hansen contacted the letter writers to seek permission to publish? Is something like this covered by U.S. law? Certainly, no one has contacted me about my 1970 and 1984 letters!

SpaceCadet1983
Member

Posts: 419
From: Pacific NW, United States
Registered: May 2012

posted 03-03-2019 03:17 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for SpaceCadet1983   Click Here to Email SpaceCadet1983     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Mr. Hansen contacted me about my letter. He was interested in knowing what, if anything, I received in reply to my letter. I sent him a scan of a photograph Neil Armstrong personally signed to me.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 49690
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 05-04-2019 11:13 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Cover art:

davidcwagner
Member

Posts: 973
From: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Registered: Jan 2003

posted 05-04-2019 04:14 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for davidcwagner   Click Here to Email davidcwagner     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Would really like a copy because I have a letter to Armstrong from two Italian mountain climbers. They included a handmade picture book of a new ascent route that they named "The Astronaut Trail" in honor of the Apollo program.

FFrench
Member

Posts: 3283
From: San Diego
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 09-20-2019 02:19 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FFrench     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
My review of this book...

SpaceCadet1983
Member

Posts: 419
From: Pacific NW, United States
Registered: May 2012

posted 09-20-2019 06:40 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for SpaceCadet1983   Click Here to Email SpaceCadet1983     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Looking forward to reading it!

chet
Member

Posts: 1543
From: Beverly Hills, Calif.
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 09-20-2019 11:26 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for chet   Click Here to Email chet     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Mr. French, great review! So concise and to the heart of the matter, feels like reading the book will be redundant (though I probably will anyway). Thanks.

Jonnyed
Member

Posts: 584
From: Dumfries, VA, USA
Registered: Aug 2014

posted 10-16-2019 04:56 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jonnyed   Click Here to Email Jonnyed     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Got my book (from Amazon) delivered today. Can't wait to dive in.

I was only 6 years old during the first moon landing and still learning to read, print and write ("See Neil step. Watch Buzz walk." --my take on "Dick and Jane.) Anyway, if I had been a bit older I'm sure I would have written Neil a letter!

I do remember my dad bringing some of the Apollo-themed postage stamps home for me to save and collect.

This looks like such a cool book.

Jonnyed
Member

Posts: 584
From: Dumfries, VA, USA
Registered: Aug 2014

posted 12-08-2019 11:16 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jonnyed   Click Here to Email Jonnyed     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
This book proved to be a fun, informative sampling of the letters, invitations, requests and fan mail that Neil received even decades after his famous moonwalk. Hansen's explanatory sections are very good.

It's shocking some of the outrageous requests that people asked of Armstrong. Some people are really clueless. There's a funny letter [not intended to be funny] from then Sen. Dan Quayle, asking for Neil's endorsement for a state campaign to improve the meaning of "Hoosier" by appealing to Neil's status as a native Indianian [oops!]. Neil sends a short note back declining, for obvious reasons. What a gaff!

One person wrote asking what shoe size Neil wore. His secretary dutifully wrote back that Neil was a size 9. Anyway, there's lots of humorous twists in some of these cards and letters.

Additionally, it was really fun to take note of letters and requests from folks I know are part of our collectSPACE community that were written when they were kids. Very funny to see one of cS colleagues earn a "this kid asks for too many autographs," note from Neil to his secretary. All in good spirits of course.

For those who may be interested, James H. gives the impression that he is still sorting through all the correspondence and is planning a second book. He does a great job with this one, as an opener.

A worthwhile read, in a fun breezy way.

FFrench
Member

Posts: 3283
From: San Diego
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 12-17-2022 05:50 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FFrench     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Higher Orbits shared my review of this book.

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