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Jack Horkheimer, 'The Star Hustler,' Dies At 72
krswan writes "I'll bet many readers had their interest in astronomy fanned by Jack Horkheimer through his long running 'Star Hustler' (later changed to 'Star Gazer') program on PBS. His joy and enthusiasm for basic naked-eye astronomy was contagious, and more than once got me in big trouble as a kid for sneaking outside when his show ended at 12:05am, trying to find whatever he was presenting that week. Horkheimer passed away on Friday. There's a nice story at Sky and Telescope, including the epitaph he already wrote for himself: 'Keep Looking Up was my life's admonition // I can do little else in my present position.'"
This is very sad, since he seemed a really nice guy, who reminded me of my Latin teacher.
Cheesy effects, low production quality. Man, I really loved Star Hustler simply because it was so straightforward and he was so genuine. Thank you, Jack!
http://www.rootstrikers.org/
We will miss you.
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I once had a program called "Penthouse Stars" but later had to change it to "Gazing at Stars from your top-floor apartment".
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I've seen a lot of amazing things in my life: the Grand Canyon, the Toledo Cathedral, fish swimming amongst coral reefs. Yet I still can't think of any quite as spectacular as the ones I've seen flat on my back and gazing out into space.
queue Première arabesque: I. Andantino con moto (Claude Debussy)
Enjoyed watching him as a kid and into adulthood. He never talked down to the viewer and just had that genuine interest in astronomy that made you want to go out and look at the sky (as best you could inside heavy city light pollution)
"We need to get over this notion, that, for Apple to win... Microsoft must lose." - Steve Jobs, 1997
Wow -- I was introduced to astronomy through Jack's show. He will be missed.
Um, that was Jack Kevorkian, and he's still alive as far as I can tell.
Just so you know, I will 'Keep looking up'
...that I wrote in 1993, haven't felt this way since Sagan went...
FOR THE STAR HUSTLER, JACK HORKHEIMER
Incandescent night and still
amazing the number
of stars
you may see
in L.A., D.C., New York, N.Y.
Ocean City, Md., on the shore once
again the stars
few yet there
visible through the orange
haze of street light, parking lot.
Just twelve miles from here,
Assateaque, the whole
of the Milky Way
spilt into view—
crystalline, star–bloom.
Drive twelve miles more, find
the radio–array
at Wallops Island
sees stars—in remote
minor galaxies—already nova
in Roman times, a million light–
years won't show
for 998,000
more here, who then
will see a star explode?
Did Edison foresee the death
of night, forgotten stars?
Jack says
no one looks up anymore.
"Keep looking up. Keep looking up!"
Perhaps some day the power out
a whole grid gone down
a city will
reignite that ancient
pinhole nuclear fusion–light
so bright, so brilliant
that despite the ache
in our spines
we crane our necks
to look up, stare, configure.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from Macintosh...
They should bury him with his eyes open then install two long telescopic tubes that stick out of the ground into his casket. That way he'll keep looking up forever.
Appreciate all he did for Astronomy - but, and I'm serious here - I read that 3 times before I read "life" and not "wife". Awkward wording.
Jack was a charismatic person with an infectious personality. He always was genuine, and had a passion for teaching astronomy. I was traveling and visiting various planetariums up and down the East Coast, with a final stop in Miami to visit the Space Transit. Jack made me feel very welcome and gave me a ton of his time explaining what made his planetarium special. Eventually I came to know that it wasn't the equipment (although that draws the public in initially), but the people that make these programs successful. Jack Horkheimer brought the wonder of the universe down to earth for many people, and I'm glad to have known him, even if only for a short while.
}#q NO CARRIER
Every time I hear Debussy's first arabesque, I will always think of the stars.
Between Stargazer and Cosmos, he and Carl Sagan piqued my childhood interest in astronomy. As I miss Carl, I'll miss Jack too.
I remember seeing him on PBS when I was a child. He really made astronomy fun to think about. Because of him I got my first telescope! Between him and Carl Sagan, a lifelong interest in the universe was spawned.
I rather enjoyed his program as a child, however, for fear of repercussions, I wouldn't have let it be know. Despite the things i liked (astronomy, science, Star Trek; in retrospect it seems so obvious), and my knowledge that admitting i like them would have seen me labeled "uncool," I was quite unaware that I was a nerd. I learned from his show how to find several constellations, which i still find in a similar way. To this day I still look into the night sky and it still has a similar affect - a child-like wonder, awe. I often wonder what other people see in the night sky.
He seemed to really enjoy life and will be missed.
When I was young, I used to stay up just long enough to catch Jack Horkheimer's Star Hustler program on TV. That funny little whistly theme still brightens my day whenever I hear it. Thanks for all the fond memories, Jack.
"A man that eloquent in death deserves to be revered." Now I'm off to Berlin. I'm going to personally shoot that paper hanging son of a bitch!
What would Richard Feynman do, if he were here right now? He'd do some math and he'd follow through!
It was the only "real time" info I and many other American amateur astronomers had for events like the sudden appearance of bright comets.
I used to watch him after Doctor Who on PBS in the 80's... it'd be the last thing on WEDW before they went off the air. Jack, you got me to walk out the back door and look up more than once and made living in the middle of the woods all that much more tolerable. Thanks for getting me interested in Astronomy, I already miss you.
46. The Hobo smiles, his eyes glaze over, and he burps. "Beware the man who has lived longer than the Wasteland."
I wanted to print this out for internet-challenged members of my family. But their print-this page still includes the comments. At least in this case, so far, there weren't very many. But I suspect it will grow.
Can't they make a version of the print-this page that leaves out the comments and just sticks with the article. I don't like wasting precious ink.
now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
Yeah... That Jack is still alive.
The Jack we're talking about is the guy half resembling of Big Gay Al from South Park, who would be on PBS for 5 minutes sometime after Dr. Who or Red Dwarf (depending on which city you're in) and told you what planets or star alignments might be interesting to look for that night (weather and light pollution permitting.)
He changed the perception of astronomy into something everyone could enjoy and do. As a planetarium director myself (just up the state from him) I owe my style of presentation to him. Funny, interesting, entertaining, and educational (at least I try to). Amazingly he was doing it in a 5 minute show. For you Jack, I will keep looking up.
I was already interested in astronomy(1972, and Comet Kohoutek) by the time I first saw his show, but it was always a nice reminder of what was in the sky at the time. Sad to hear of his passing
Back in the mid-80s our local PBS affiliate ran it before signing off during the weekends. It was one of the few things that made any childhood fear of the dark immediately dissipate. I'm not sure if it was because he was so enthusiastic or the sweet, gentle music or a presentation that was instantly accessible and all inclusive.
I can remember one night he was talking about Venus and that you could see it with a pair of binoculars and if you didn't have any, just use a pair of toilet paper tubes. I rushed to the bathroom, ripped two tubes out, dashed to the yard and *GASP* saw it! It was one of those moments that I'll never forget. Thanks Jack.
My first introduction to Debussy's Premiere Arabesque - that funky synthesized version.
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Like many others that have commented, I remember seeing Star Hustler in the mid-80's as well, as a PBS weekend sign-off. Many a time my dad and I would go outside to check on Jack's observation for the week, and always had fun looking up at the sky. Even though the sign-off would be after midnight, we'd sometimes stare up at the sky pointing at things we could see for hours at a time.
Jack always kept astronomy accessible to everyone, and for that I thank you. You will be missed, Jack. I know I'll be one to keep looking up, and will make sure as many people as possible do the same.
I watched his last episode of the show on Youtube, it's about the Summer Triangle (Vega, Deneb and Altair) that is fairly high in the sky around Labor Day. He looked like he was having some breathing problems, but you could tell he had the same spirit and sheer joy in sharing his "discovery." If I can think of it, I'll try to remember the "Summer Triangle" as the "Horkheimer Triangle", to remember him, and to "remember to keep looking up."
By the taping of my glasses, something geeky this way passes
the joke is always on you, so you might as well laugh back
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You can find the original synthesized version of Snowflakes Are Dancing by Isao Tomita here:
https://encrypted.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=snowflakes+are+dancing&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&aqi=&oq=&gs_rfai=
Here's the Arabesque:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iXLMEi4Kp0&feature=related
As a non-US-er I had never heard of Jack Horkheimer. I just Youtubed a few episodes and I must say that his enthusiasm is/was truly infectious. I'd understand people feeling a sad kind of loss.
I hadn't the slightest objection to his spending his time planning massacres for the bourgeoisie... (P.G. Wodehouse)
to watch PBS waiting for reruns of Dark Shadows and watching this guy tell me where Mars or Jupiter would be.
See you next week.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZN9timuOHM
How very sad. I remember when they would air it between shows when I was a kid. As soon as I heard that Tomita music, I knew I only had 30 seconds or so to get my Dad to the TV so we could watch it and then go outside to "look up". I used to subscribe to the podcast, but when I lost my iPod I let it lax. I recently started watching them again and you could tell something was not right. He didn't seem well. In spite of obviously not feeling his best, he was still very upbeat and enthusiastic -- always part of his charm and appeal -- right to the end. I give him props for caring about his audience and their education for keeping on. I'll miss you, Jack. You made the night sky a friendly place.
Most of his subjects had much longer lifespans. Why couldn't astronomers have lifespans on parity with a few near-space objects ...
RIP, Jack.
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Anyway, I'm sorry to hear the news, because I so much enjoyed his shows.
From Albert Einstein on Science and Religion:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/aor/einstein/einsci.htm
"For the scientific method can teach us nothing else beyond how facts are related to, and conditioned by, each other. The aspiration toward such objective knowledge belongs to the highest of which man is capabIe, and you will certainly not suspect me of wishing to belittle the achievements and the heroic efforts of man in this sphere. Yet it is equally clear that knowledge of what is does not open the door directly to what should be. One can have the clearest and most complete knowledge of what is, and yet not be able to deduct from that what should be the goal of our human aspirations. Objective knowledge provides us with powerful instruments for the achievements of certain ends, but the ultimate goal itself and the longing to reach it must come from another source. And it is hardly necessary to argue for the view that our existence and our activity acquire meaning only by the setting up of such a goal and of corresponding values. The knowledge of truth as such is wonderful, but it is so little capable of acting as a guide that it cannot prove even the justification and the value of the aspiration toward that very knowledge of truth. Here we face, therefore, the limits of the purely rational conception of our existence.
But it must not be assumed that intelligent thinking can play no part in the formation of the goal and of ethical judgments. When someone realizes that for the achievement of an end certain means would be useful, the means itself becomes thereby an end. Intelligence makes clear to us the interrelation of means and ends. But mere thinking cannot give us a sense of the ultimate and fundamental ends. To make clear these fundamental ends and valuations, and to set them fast in the emotional life of the individual, seems to me precisely the most important function which religion has to perform in the social life of man. And if one asks whence derives the authority of such fundamental ends, since they cannot be stated and justified merely by reason, one can only answer: they exist in a healthy society as powerful traditions, which act upon the conduct and aspirations and judgments of the individuals; they are there, that is, as something living, without its being necessary to find justification for their existence. They come into being not through demonstration but through revelation, through the medium of powerful personalities. One must not attempt to justify them, but rather to sense their nature simply and clearly."
Jack Horkheimer, in his own unique and quirky way, was one of those "powerful personalities", one who helped showed me the beauty of the universe in a way that made sense intellectually as well as aesthetically and emotionally. I'll try to "Keep Looking Up", and I hope you are on to better things, Jack. :-)
A 21st century issue: the irony of technologies of abundance in the hands of those still thinking in terms of scarcity.
Like many here I used to watch Jack every Friday night on the local PBS Sci-Fi Fridays. Every Friday night it was Jack, Red Dwarf, and Dr. Who. (plus occasionally something else like Blake's 7). Jack was like the cool uncle who could boil something down and make it easy to understand and yet still fun to enjoy. Whether it was how to spot the Leonid meteor showers or how to find a constellation by "Arcing to Arcturus" Jack was the man. Here's a toast to the Star Hustler, we would be lucky to have more people on this planet as genuine as him. Hopefully he is now touring the stars he loved to teach about in life. RIP Jack.
I remember watching him as a kid with my Dad and younger brothers, and then going outside to look at the stars. Those are great memories. He definitely had an influence on my love for astronomy. Jack was a great man to be able to give the gift of curiosity, wonder, and enthusiasm to countless people. He is definitely missed. His legacy lives on.
Thanks for all the star gazing... and keep looking up!