Lovell's passing reminds me of when America was great
Albany airport construction moving forward; Chapman to hold talk on new exhibit
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The first heroes of my youth were not sports stars or rock stars, they were astronauts.
The Passing of Apollo 13 astronaut Jim Lovell at the age of 97 Friday reminded me of those days glued to the television for every "blastoff" - that's what I called them as a kid - and news alert during the Apollo 13 accident in space.
As a kid, I probably didn't understand how dire the circumstances were on Apollo 13 until they made the movie 25 years later.
Lovell was one of those space stars. In those days, I could recite, not only the names of the seven Mercury astronauts, but most of the teams on the Gemini missions and Lovell, for a time, owned the record for most time in space.
Lovell became a familiar name flying on Gemini VII, Gemini XII and Apollo 8, culminating in his Apollo 13 assignment and a chance to walk on the moon.
After the explosion in space forced the crew to use the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) to get back to Earth, I heard one of the news reporters say that NASA employees were wearing little buttons that said "LEM Power!"
It was a nod to the "Flower Power" saying of the day.
So as a 12-year-old junior high student, I made my own "LEM Power" button and took to wearing it to school at a time when nerdy kids like myself were regularly scrutinized by their peers.
Person after person repeatedly asked me what was "LEM Power" - including one teacher - and many seemed unable to comprehend my concern for the brave men in space.
It was an early indication my DNA contained an unusual strain of nerddom my peers did not have.
My recollection is I wore the "LEM Power" button the next day despite the attention it was I was getting.
We didn't hear much from Lovell after he returned triumphantly home.
In a remembrance this past week, Time magazine Editor-at-Large Jeffrey Kluger remembered Lovell said to him, "Remember where you’re standing when the spotlight goes off, because no one’s going to help you off the stage.”
Lovell did that graciously retiring from the space program not long after Apollo 13 and easing into various roles in corporate America. After all, he was 42 and still had more than half his life to live.
"Lovell wore his fame lightly—like a loose garment. He was a man of the Earth—a naval officer, a father of four, a homeowner—who just happened to have been to space," Kluger wrote in Time. "Around the time we were finishing our book, he was planning a vacation with his wife, Marilyn, and was at a loss as to where to go.
"I’ve been to Europe, I’ve been to Asia and Australia and the moon and Africa,” he told Kluger.
"The moon made the list, but it wasn’t even first," Kluger wrote.
But there was one other memory of Lovell I cherish even more.
It was Christmas Eve 1968 and we had just moved into our new home in Seymour. As an 11-year-old I was navigating a new world, too.
After a year of assassinations, burning cities and riots at the Democratic National Convention, Apollo 8's mission to circle the moon - with Jim Lovell aboard - was a spellbinding diversion we all needed.
That evening after church, our family sat around the color television. One in three people on the planet were doing the same.
Lovell and his fellow astronauts Frank Borman and William Anders acted as our eyes and ears as explorers of uncharted territory.
“The vast loneliness up here of the moon is awe-inspiring," Lovell said that Christmas Eve. “It makes you realize just what you have back on Earth. The Earth from here is a grand oasis in the big vastness of space.”
Anders then took the iconic photo of "Earthrise."
And we were humbled.
And then on that oh so special Christmas Eve, we sat together as a family and heard the crew read from Genesis.
"And God called the light day and the darkness He called night,” Lovell said when it was his turn to read. “And the evening and the morning were the first day. And God said, ‘Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters. And let it divide the waters from the waters.’”
It was probably the first time I ever really paid attention to the Genesis text.
It seemed like poetry.
When the news came that Lovell had died at the age of 97, I of course immediately thought of Apollo 13, but then I thought of Apollo 8.
It reminded me of the hope I had in my youth.
Of the dazzling things our country was accomplishing.
And the wonders I would see in the future.
On Friday, that all seemed like a long, long time ago.
Airport construction
Construction at Albany International Airport continues to move forward.
The curbside drop-off has been just one lane for months, but when I did a drop-off Friday, I noticed the new larger bridge connecting the parking garage to the main terminal was glassed in recently.
The construction began in 2023 and still has a ways to go, but the first of five phases is supposed to wrap up this fall according to the Times Union.
The renovations to the security area and TSA checkpoint, the entrance to the main terminal and the exterior of the main terminal should all be finished this fall.
The main terminal expansion will also include additions of a children's room, a sensory room and a business center.
Approximately, $100 million is being invested in the airport.
Chapman exhibit
If you haven't been to the Chapman's Museum's latest exhibit on collecting, you might want to check out Curator Maureen Folk's talk on August 20 at 7 p.m. at the Glens Falls museum.
In honor of the Chapman's 60th anniversary, Folk will share the process of curating its exhibition and how the museum goes about choosing the stories that capture the community's rich history.
The program is free for Chapman members and $10 for non-members.
To register, please call (518) 793-2826.
Lee losing money
Lee Enterprises, the parent company of The Post-Star, reported that it ended the fourth quarter in the red and blamed it on the February cyberattack.
The company reported a $2 million loss that was actually an improvement over the fourth quarter last year when it lost $4.4 million.
Total revenue was down 6 percent.
Lee stock was also down 8 percent after the announcement.
Rewriting Constitution
Reporters noticed this week that online version of the United States Constitution maintained by the Library of Congress had some missing language.
Article I, which defines the rights and duties of Congress, was missing parts of Section 8 and all of Sections 9 and 10.
It included Congress's control over the District of Columbia, Congress' power to make laws, the promise that habeas corpus will not be suspended, the standard that only Congress can appropriate money, the requirement that presidents cannot accept gifts from foreign countries and the responsibility only Congress can levy tariffs.
It was missing some important stuff. It was also curious those things are currently under assault by the current president.
Officials said the deletions were "due to a coding error" and were soon restored.
Great quote
Saw this great line from New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd on Sunday: "Real power doesn’t need to shout. In fact, it can whisper."
Madison knew
Jame Madison, the fifth president and one of the Founding Fathers, included this important view of the U.S. Constitution in Federalist #10 about Congress' role in checking executive power.
Madison summed it up perfectly: "Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm."
That is certainly true today and unfortunately Congress is missing in action.
Education stats
The Trump administration continues to have an obsession about college admission statistics.
It continues to demand more and more statistics from the colleges, but it is eventually going to run into the problem since it has fired nearly everyone who worked at the National Center for Education Statistics, the research branch inside the Department of Education.
Of the 100 employees who worked there, only four remain.
Unclear who will compile all these statistics into a meaningful analysis.
Stefanik priority
Maury Thompson, writing in the Plattsburgh Press Republican, reported that Rep. Elise Stefanik has said her priority right now is boosting Republican candidates in this year's local and county elections before announcing her decision in running for governor after the November election.
She didn't say anything about constituent priorities.
Thompson also reported that in June Stefanik established "Save New York," a state political action committee to support Republican candidates in local, county and state races, including her if she runs for governor.
Thompson wrote that in the first nine days of July, the PAC raised $260,214, with contributions from 34 different states and the District of Columbia.
Stefanik also says she supports the Department of Justice's investigation into New York Attorney General Letitia James.
“The DOJ's investigation into Letitia James is a vital step toward justice. I will continue to fight to expose NY corruption, protect constitutional rights, and hold these failed Democrat leaders in NY accountable,” Stefanik said.
She never mentions the misdeeds of the current president.
Ken Tingley spent more than four decades working in small community newspapers in upstate New York. Since retirement in 2020 he has written three books and is currently adapting his second book "The Last American Newspaper" into a play. He currently lives in Queensbury, N.Y.
Again, Ken, you stirred up memories. Your reflections reminded me that when I was serving my first church in Medfield MA, there was a young family in the church for two years who were from Texas. The father, Dr. Clarence Jernigan, had been sent by NASA to get a Masters in Public Health from Harvard. The family was quite active in the church those years. Clarence participated in an early Wednesday morning men’s study group I led.
Several years later, then living in Ohio, we were watching the return of Apollo 11 from the moon. When the astronauts came aboard the USS Hornet (I believe) and went into immediate isolation, the attending flight surgeon who went into quarantine with them was Clarence. I can still feel the excitement we felt that day.
The Lowell story was maybe when people could have looked at you and said...."THERE goes his future self...once a nerd, always a nerd"...and thank GOODNESS!!! The range of things you cover continued through your official newspaper days and continue now; it just doesn't stop, and we, your substack readers, are so lucky!