While I didn't have the opportunity to share a meal with him, I also had the great fortune to meet Captain Lovell once, and chatted with him about his experiences.
I was between teaching jobs one summer over twenty years ago, and I took a part time position at a (now sadly missed) Borders bookshop in south Texas, as my family and I prepared to move to Michigan. One Saturday morning I showed up to open the store and get ready for the weekend rush - the manager was in the back stockroom and I was getting the registers up and running. The door opened and a man walked in, strode up to the counter and asked me: "Good morning. I wonder if you happen to have a copy of a book called
Lost Moon?"
I looked at him, thinking that he seemed familiar, but I couldn't place him. I replied, "It's funny you should mention that book. It's not on the shelf, but a copy just arrived yesterday - I remember seeing it in the stockroom. Would you like to buy it?"
He smiled and said, "No, but if you like, I'll autograph it for you." He extended his hand and said, "I'm Jim Lovell. Nice to meet you."
Needless to say, I got the book for him. We chatted over coffee for nearly an hour - an amazing encounter with a true hero.
And the book came home with me and remains on my bookshelf to this day.
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