Today, July 31st ’22, is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Bill Kaysing. He was an American writer “for an alternative lifestyle”, “against the tide”, one who gave the government a hard time with his indomitable anarchoid behavior.
Thus, Kaysing had led a fairly regular life until beyond quarantine. Four years of war in the navy, degree in English literature and marriage with two daughters. Then a career as a clerk at an aerospace company called Rocketdyne. After that, he decided to totally change his life, overwhelmed by rampant pollution and the daily routine of 9-17 hours, typical of American offices.
Deciding to change your life, leave the “rat race” and dedicate yourself to a healthy existence, free from daily commitments and constraints. He divorced his first wife by marrying Ruth, also a writer, as he had become in the meantime.
He lived one adventure after another traveling by caravan and boat through the Nevada desert and California. Or, in San Francisco Bay, helping the homeless that abound in that area.
You achieved international fame in 1976 by writing “We never went to the Moon” proving, without a shadow of a doubt, that the government was the “enemy number 1” of the American people. It gave rise, thanks to a book, to an entire conspiratorial vein, I had to write in an article for an Australian magazine on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the first false moon landing .
It seems to me yesterday when I published a website in his honor in 2006. I never suspected that I would come into contact with his family members, thanks to whom, I obtained documents in his possession with which I could write the biography entitled “The fastest pen in the West ”. After all, it was an adventure for me too. Ciao Bill!
Month: July 2022
Buzz Aldrin: American Icon
Sotheby’s is thrilled to announce Buzz Aldrin: American Icon — the most important Space Exploration collection to come to market. The collection, consigned directly by Apollo 11 Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin, who has carefully preserved the materials since his missions, includes the most important mission flown artifacts from both the Gemini XII and Apollo 11 missions.
Highlights include the jacket Aldrin wore on his historic journey to the Moon and back on Apollo 11; the famous broken circuit breaker switch that nearly ended the lives of the Apollo 11 crew, and the felt-tipped pen that saved them; the famous “Go Army, Beat Navy” banner Buzz brought with him on his Gemini XII spacewalk and exposed to the vacuum of space; complete mission-flown documents that were key to completing the mission, including the Apollo 11 LM Systems Activation Checklist, the LM Rendezvous Charts, Lunar Module and Command Module cue cards including the Apollo 11 EVA cue cards, the Rendezvous, Softsuit EVA, and Hardsuit EVA checklists from Gemini XII, as well as the Apollo 11 Summary Flight Plan and LM G&N Dictionary, flown lunar surface checklist and flight plan pages, flown flags, covers, and much more. Of note are the MTV VMA award statuette presented to Buzz, the “Original Moonman,” his Presidential Medal of Freedom, and other important materials relating to his life leading up to becoming an astronaut, as well as materials relating to his life and accolades following his historic moonwalk.
For assistance with bidding and registration, please contact:
+1 212 606 7000
For all enquiries please contact:
Cassandra Hatton, CDR
Senior Vice President
Global Head of Department and Senior Specialist
Science & Popular Culture
+1 212 894 2342
Dr. Matthew Hoffarth, LMP
Associate Specialist
Science & Popular Culture
+1 212 894 1774
Emily Olsen, CMP
Associate Cataloguer
Science & Popular Culture
+1 212 606 7384
Lauren Petrovic, CAPCOM
Pre-Sale Experience Coordinator
Science & Popular Culture
+1 212 894 2317
Bridget Quinn, EECOM
Intern
Science & Popular Culture
+1 212 894 2317
Sale number
N10986
(source: https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2022/buzz-aldrin-american-icon?locale=en )
