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Author Event
Wednesday November 20 @ 18:30 - 19:30
Writers and readers are invited to join us for Brian d’Eon’s book launch, “Lunatics: Last Men on the Moon,”
Wednesday, November 20th, at 6:30 PM.
Please register in advance so we can ensure enough interest for the event.
About the book: Lunatics follows the fortunes of men and women—mostly historical—intimately involved in a fictional last mission to land humans on the Moon. The action centres around the dreams and anxieties of three
astronauts: Alan Bean (NASA’s only painter), Deke Slayton (one of the Original Seven) and, most notably, Wernher von Braun. Each astronaut is haunted by his past, but none more so than the brilliant von Braun who, thirty years earlier, was aiming rockets at London civilians. Von Braun is a complicated the man—ex Nazi and personal friend of President Lyndon Johnson. The path leading to
his becoming an astronaut is full of twists and turns—some hilarious and some heartbreaking.
More than simply recounting a technological adventure, Lunatics explores the poetic impact the moon landings have had on the human psyche, looking beyond the politics and technology to understand why this last moon landing should be remembered as mankind’s last great collective act of optimism.
In Lunatics, the author takes readers on an intimate and visceral journey: recreating the peculiar sensations known only to moon-walkers: 1/6 G, absolute stillness, absence of wind resistance, time- delays etc.
Apollo XX is NASA's last scheduled mission. Mankind may never again set foot there. Planners have pulled out all stops, choosing for the final landing site the bowels of Copernicus Crater. What to call those dedicated to such a mission but Lunatics.