The Last Man On The Moon - A Review 3/27/2009 9:04:10 PM
After having read Eugene Cernan’s (written with Don Davis) THE LAST MAN ON THE MOON (see link, below), I feel as if I’ve actually been there with him and “Dr. Rock,” Jack Schmitt, on the moon.
I’ve been doing some heavy research reading for my next manuscript, and recently came upon Mr. Cernan’s book through a friend of my wife’s (it was highly recommended). Since I needed some “on the moon” info, this sounded like a great read, and I was not at all disappointed. I’ve read a handful of other astronaut books, but with none of them have I connected like with Mr. Cernan’s first-person account. What really struck me was the wiser Cernan, a man who’s chased and lived his dream and can now look back on it with an objective, more “rounded” eye. He’s not living in the past by any means, but he understands what he’s been through, even makes a few apologies, and has grown from his experience. Yes, of course he was a cocky fighter pilot, but so what? That was what was needed back then and he fit the bill. He’s matured since then, not that “cocky” is necessarily a bad thing, and understands his youth and actions with a seasoned eye. Perhaps, in being a human being, that is how extreme confidence and ability typically manifests itself in flesh. But, he also seems to genuinely feel for his first wife, Barbara, and how he lost her because of his obsessive need in getting to the moon (I hope Barbara doesn’t hold his actions against him; Mr. Cernan had a dream and it just so happened that the very nature of that dream asked for a helluva lot more than most dreams). People are who they are, and sometimes others can live with them and sometimes they can’t. Not to trivialize any of this or Barbara, or Mr. Cernan’s relationship with his first wife, but Mr. Cernan gave it his best shot. People change, situations change, and sometimes people can no longer deal with what they’ve dealt with for years on end. It’s just is what it is. Mr. Cernan (and Barbara--I don’t know what her possibly new last name might now be) seems to understand this.
I also took from the book that Mr. Cernan is one cool guy. He’s fricking funny; down to earth (pardon the pun!). He brought out the Human Element to his journey. Made it personal. It was great to see that humans are human no matter what they’re doing or what they’re wearing. Sure, there was an “image” the astronauts wore, sometimes for good and sometimes not, but it was really cool to see the HUMAN going through the trials and tribs he did to get where he wanted to go. To hear what he was thinking, to see the guts, the determination, the humor these guys had in doing what they did.
Two lines from his book stuck with me. The first was on page 339. To paraphrase, he said that having been “enriched by a singular event” that was larger than life, he no longer had the “luxury of being ordinary.” How true, whether that be a philosophical-physical journey like his, or some metaphysical epiphany (and who’s to say the two are not one in the same in this instance?). I’ve read that about other astronauts. Mr. Cernan also mentioned at one point how it was so difficult to get caught up in earthly issues having seen--experienced--the “fragility of Earth” (my quotes, I think...). I wish more of us were in that boat, so to speak. Many of us cannot see the planet for the trees.
The other line (on page 344) was how Apollo seemed to have come before its time. I love paradoxical statements like this! And further how he describes JFK in the next sentence as having grabbed so far in to the 21st Century and brought back an era into the 1960s and 70s that was simply way ahead of its time. How prophetic, given our last president’s attempt at reviving the space program by (in my humble opinion) taking a giant step BACKWARD by going with the Constellation plan (but given what I just stated, which came first...Apollo or Constellation?), which (at least in FORM) is exactly like Apollo. But, hey, I’m an armchair quarterback in this arena and don’t get paid to make those decisions. But it does seem exactly like that, doesn’t it--“Apollo on steroids”?
The only disappointment was no discussion of UFOs. But then again, I don’t freely expect that out of astronauts. I wish astronauts would talk more about them, but I’m sure they are under strict oaths not to (I’m not even gonna play that game of “if they exist”...). I can understand that--though I still might ask if ever presented the opportunity.
While in the military, I made a couple unsuccessful attempts at entering astronaut training. I’ve obviously never made it to the moon, but Mr. Cernan’s words took me there. Again, to in no way trivialize Mr. Cernan, his life and efforts, and those of all the other highly skilled and gifted individuals in the astronaut corps, but perhaps in some other life we’ve swapped positions and Mr. Cernan is a guy just like F. P. Dorchak, and I’m a guy just like Eugene A. Cernan, and I finally made it to the moon. Or Mars. But for this me, here, for one reason or another, it just wasn’t my time...but I dearly thank Mr. Cernan for taking me there anyway.
