RobKirkpatrick.com

Okay, so turns out I was on NPR’s All Things Considered afterall.  It’s kind of a funny little skit on 40th anniversary burnout.  You can hear it and read the transcript at:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120652963 

I don’t know that I would cite the Wendy’s burger as a huge anniversary moment, but to each his own…

Thanks again to Travis Larchuck at NPR for including me in the spot.

- Rob

Richard Safire, the New York Times columnist and former speechwriter for Richard Nixon, passed away today at 79.

Safire wrote the “contingency” speech that Richard Nixon would have read on television in the event that the astronauts of Apollo 11 had been stranded on the moon, as I discuss in 1969.  If not for Neil Armstrong’s quick thinking during his lunar approach, it’s something that very well could have happened.  And if Buzz Aldrin hadn’t figured out how to flip the broken ignition button with a ball-point pen… 

Here’s a link to the speech, courtesy of Gawker:

http://gawker.com/5369364/william-safires-finest-speech

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090827/ap_on_re_eu/eu_netherlands_not_moon_rock

That giant leap made by NASA and the brave astronauts of Apollo 11 – Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins – happened 40 years ago today.

Here’s a link to a priceless mission transcript on the Kennedy Space Center site: http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/history/apollo/apollo-11/apollo-11.html 

Here’s a special New York Times feature on “Readers’ Moon Memories”: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/07/15/science/space/20090715moon-readers_index.html

And below are a couple of cover stories on the moon landing, one real, one fake.  One could argue the fake one more accurately depicts the dizzying achievement of Apollo 11.

And, of course, the moon landing is placed within the context of the times in my book 1969: The Year Everything Changed, now available at a Barnes and Noble near you…

- Rob

Sunday, July 20, 1969

A 3-run inning in the 4th was Gary Gentry’s undoing as the Expos took the first game of a doubleheader from the Mets. Tommie Agee drove in both New York runs with a single in the 2nd.

In the second game, Ron Swoboda doubled and moved to third on an error with two outs in the tenth inning, and then he scored the go-ahead run on pinch-hitter Bobby Pfeil’s bunt single. Starter Don Cardwell gave up just 1 earned run in 7 1/3 innings, but Ron Taylor blew a save chance in the 9th by surrendering a home run to Coco Laboy.

At the conclusion of the series, the Mets players sat in the airport in Montreal and watched history being made on television, as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin of Apollo 11 became the first men to walk on the moon.

Expos 3, Mets 2 (1).  W: Wasleswski (2-3)  L: Gentry (9-8)

Mets 4, Expos 3 (2, 10 inn.)  W: DiLauro (1-3)  L: Face (4-2)

***

Fergie Jenkins was dynamite against the Phils, tossing a complete-game shutout and striking out 9. Don Kessinger’s RBI single in the third accounted for the only run.

Dick Selma was nearly just as good in the nightcap, allowing just a single unearned run through 9 innings. Kessinger and Ron Santo each struck 3 hits.

Cubs 1, Phillies 0 (1).  W: Jenkins (13-7)  L: Jackson (9-10)

Cubs 6, Phillies 1 (2).  W: Selma (10-4)  L: Champion (3-5)

***

Saturday, July 19, 1969

Tom Seaver wasn’t his usual self and gave up 4 runs on 7 hits in just 2 innings of work. A pinch-hit 2-RBI single from Ron Swoboda in the 7th brought New York to within 1 run but Bill Stoneman, whose 4 runs allowed were all unearned, held of the Mets for a complete-game victory.

Expos 5, Mets 4.  W: Stoneman (6-12)  L: Seaver (14-5)

***

Deron Johnson had 2 home runs and 4 ribbies as he led his Phillies over the Cubs.

Phillies 5, Cubs 3.  W: Wise (7-8)  L: Hands (11-8)

Friday, July 18, 1969

Art Shamsky and Jerry Grote both homered and drove in 2 runs as the Mets opened a series in Montreal with a win.  Jerry Koosman got the complete-game win, striking out seven.  Tommie Agee also went 2 for 4.

Mets 5, Expos 2.  W: Koosman (8-5)  L: J. Robertson (2-8)

***

Ernie Banks was the hitting star with a home run and 4 RBI as the Cubs pulled away from the host Phillies. Jim Hickman and Randy Hundley also added roundtrippers. Don Young went 3 for 4 and Don Kessinger scored twice. The game was tied 5-5 after 6 but Chicago tallied 4 late runs against the Philadelphia bullpen.

Cubs 9, Phillies 5.  W: Regan (10-5)  L: B. Wilson (2-3)

Be on the lookout this summer for 1969: The Year Everything Changed at Barnes and Noble, where the book will be featured in a special promotion to commemorate the  40th anniversary of that eventful “Summer of ‘69″!

The moon landing…Woodstock…the Amazin’ Mets…Easy Rider…Charles Manson…and more. The stories from that summer grabbed the headlines and left indelible impressions upon an entire generation of Americans.  As the subtitle implies, 1969 left our nation forever changed.  

- Rob