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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.'"
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
Luckily "the sky at night" is still going strong with Sir Patrick Moore at 87 years old, and Carl Sagan used to be on TV also, but it would be nice to have had more astronomy.
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.
It was the only "real time" info I and many other American amateur astronomers had for events like the sudden appearance of bright comets.
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 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