|
Author
|
Topic: Oriana Fallaci, space author (1929-2006)
|
ColinBurgess
Member Posts: 2031
From: Sydney, Australia
Registered: Sep 2003
|
posted 09-15-2006 04:11 AM
   
The prolific Italian writer Oriana Fallaci is reported to have died today (Sept. 15, 2006) in a Florence hospital aged 76. Oriana led a very colourful life, but space aficionados will be remember her for two things: she wrote the masterful book "If the Sun Dies," which centered on a series of insightful interviews in Houston with many of the early astronauts. It is also strongly rumoured that Fallaci was the one who bet Pete Conrad $500 that he would be told by NASA what to say when he set foot on the moon. Pete refused to name this person in later interviews, but it was commonly known that his lighthearted comments when stepping onto the moon were instigated by Fallaci. |
KSCartist
Member Posts: 2896
From: Titusville, FL USA
Registered: Feb 2005
|
posted 09-15-2006 06:57 AM
You think Pete is meeting her at the gate so she will finally pay up? |
ColinBurgess
Member Posts: 2031
From: Sydney, Australia
Registered: Sep 2003
|
posted 09-15-2006 07:15 AM
Knowing Pete, he'd be making cracks about what a giant step it was for both of them, and how 500 bucks can't buy a hell of a lot in heaven!  |
SpaceCat
Member Posts: 151
From: Florida, US
Registered: May 2006
|
posted 09-15-2006 08:17 PM
Thanks guys, for putting a smile on otherwise sad news. She was a very cool lady, always enjoyed her work. |
SRB
Member Posts: 258
From:
Registered: Jan 2001
|
posted 09-16-2006 10:43 AM
Colin, thank you for mentioning that she wrote a fine book about the astronauts in the mid 1960s. I have never seen any prior mention of "If the Sun Dies" as an important contemporary book about space by a well known, non-science writer. Besides those by Wolf and Mailer, there aren't many. |
spaceman1953
Member Posts: 953
From: South Bend, IN
Registered: Apr 2002
|
posted 09-20-2006 03:34 PM
Charlie Rose played some clips of his various interviews with her and they never talked about space stuff or astronauts.Another one of those "unsung heroes" or in this case, heroines, that you never hear about till they are gone! |
SRB
Member Posts: 258
From:
Registered: Jan 2001
|
posted 12-28-2006 11:03 AM
Colin, thank you again for mentioning "If the Sun Dies" in your comments about Oriana Fallaci. I went out and found a copy for a few dollars and read it. It was written in 1965, mainly before any Gemini flights, and focuses on the Apollo mission to the moon. It is a remarkable insight into that period by a foreign (Italian) woman. The book traces her year long journey from skeptic to fan of the Apollo program; and a believer in the worth of the going to the moon. It also reflects on Fallaci's own experiences growing up in Nazi occupied Italy and her meetings with von Braun and the other German rocket scientists. Her interviews with many of the astronauts are wonderfully revealing about their personalities. Fallaci was a fun loving individual who believed that breaking rules was part of life. It's no wonder she got along well with Conrad, Schirra and other of that ilk. But she also got on well with Slayton and Theodore Freeman, who I've never read anything written about before since he died in late 1965 in a plane crash. Her brief interview of Neil Armstrong is a riot. He was all business and engineering, without any any interest in discussing (at least with her in the eleven minutes NASA allowed for the interview) anything else. Her book should not be "lost" to fans of the space program is well worth reading. |
advertisement