Well by now, the passing of Jack Williamson is pretty common knowledge. There was story about Jack which I think people would enjoy. He had been a judge for the Writers of the Future Contest since its inception twenty-three years ago and had supported the aims of the contest. He had also been awarded the L. Ron Hubbard Lifetime Achievement Award for his continuous contributions to the arts.

 

Several years ago, we held our awards ceremony at the Kennedy Space Center and were invited to watch a shuttle launch. We were the closest civilians allowed and the judges had earlier toured through the space center. Well, Jack had been writing about space travel since the 1920's and it was now the 1990's. Jack was there with the other contest judges with a total look of amazement about the whole affair. There was the final countdown and then we saw the ignition, then shortly thereafter heard and felt the raw power of the boosters at lift off and then it seemed it was less than a minute, and it was out of site.

 

Afterward, in speaking with Jack, it turned out that after all his years of writing about space travel, this was the very first time he had ever witnessed the launch of a space craft. Even though his body was into its '80s, he was just like a kid watching the space shuttle launch and I think I'll always remember that look of wonderment on his face.

 

John Goodwin