Yesterday Martina and I attended a book signing with Buzz Aldrin at the American Airlines CR Smith Museum in Fort Worth. Mr. Aldrin sat behind a table near the museum's DC-3, and as he sat there I could not help but marvel at the notion of being in the presence of a man who stood on the surface of the moon and returned. To Buzz Aldrin, it was probably just another day. To me, it transformed the lunar landing from an abstract concept to a material reality. Standing in line, I thought about Joseph Campbell's
The Hero with a Thousand Faces and how Buzz Aldrin was an embodiment of the monomyth, the universal myth of all mankind.
When our time came to get a book signed, I asked Mr. Aldrin what message he had for our local students. He thought for a couple of seconds and then spoke. "Never let the other guy win," Mr. Aldrin said. At first I was surprised by his words. Then I began to consider that this was a man who risked his very life to help his country win the race to the moon. He wasn't going to tell kids to mind their mamas and eat their spinach.
This is the official photo that hung above my bed for much of my childhood.
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