BREVARD’S AWARD-WINNING SENIOR NEWSPAPER
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Volume 18 Number 3
OF FLORIDA
August 2014
myseniorlife.com
Barbree’s new book lifts veil on famed astronaut Armstrong’s private life By MIKE GAFFEY Jay Barbree has good reason to feel over the moon these days. The south Merritt Island resident and longtime NBC News space correspondent’s ninth book, “Neil Armstrong: A Life of Flight,” (St. Martin’s Press) has rocketed onto the New York Times and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists. Reviews have been mostly positive. John Glenn, the first American in orbit, wrote the foreword. There’s already talk of a possible movie based on Barbree’s intimate account of his trusted but famously private friend, the first man to walk on the moon. “It’s about as good as it gets for a writer,” said Barbree, 80, the only journalist to have covered all 166 U.S. manned launches. “My wife, Jo, immediately brought in two carpenters to widen the front door so I could get my head through. I could only get out the sliding back doors — I got that big-headed. No really, it’s a wonderful feeling.” Barbree moved to Brevard in 1958 and covered rocket launches between traffic reports for WEZY-AM in Cocoa Beach. When he noticed that NBC didn’t have a presence at the Cape, he applied and was hired, starting a career that has spanned 56 years. His current NBC contract runs through 2016. Barbree said he and Armstrong had discussed writing a book for two decades. The Early County, Ga. native had featured Armstrong in several of his other books, and Armstrong had written the introduction to Barbree’s 1994 bestseller “Moon Shot.” But Armstrong felt uncomfortable talking about his achievements and put off the project. “You couldn’t get him to brag on
It’s the end of the trail for Lewis and Clark page 11
FEATURES
SENIOR LIFE Photo Courtesy of St. Martin’s Press
Jay Barbree covers the liftoff of shuttle Atlantis on July 8, 2011, the final mission of the shuttle program and the 166th manned flight Barbree covered for NBC News. The 80-year-old space correspondent’s NBC contract runs through 2016. himself,” Barbree said. Finally, after an event at Kennedy Space Center honoring Barbree for 50 years of space coverage, Armstrong gave Barbree the go-ahead. Barbree had completed the first chapter and received Armstrong’s approval just before the astronaut died in August 2012 at age 82, after suffering complications from heart surgery. Barbree spent 21 months working on the 350-page book, drawing from 50 years of conversations with Armstrong along with notes, transcripts and interviews with the space hero’s close associates.
The result is a reportage-style account of Armstrong’s life rather than biography, focusing on his days as a supremely skilled Korean War pilot and X-15 test pilot, his selection as an astronaut, his near-fatal flight aboard Gemini 8, his historic first steps on the lunar surface, his postNASA life and his vision for future space exploration. The book’s July release was timed to coincide with the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11
barBREE continued on page 3
Volunteer job is tons of fun page 6
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Local librarian predicts new reading app craze page 14
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