1979: AL MCCREAKEN
It is with deep honor and profound respect that I post a picture of the late Al McReaken, my childhood mentor in astronomy and the man who sparked my interest in all things heavenly. When I was in the eighth and ninth grades, Al, realizing that I had no father figure and no real direction in life, packed his Celestron 8 telescope to my Glendale, Arizona home each week and with it, introduced me to to many wonderful celestial objects. Al was always very patient and kind - he spent considerable time polar-aligning the telescope each week and let me remain in front of the eyepiece as long as I wanted to remain there. His dream was to see the first Hubble telescope images, and he spoke often on that subject with great passion, telling me that the Hubble would bring discoveries and majestic imagery beyond anything mankind had ever seen before. Unfortunately, Al passed away before the Hubble telescope was launched. I remember thinking of him fondly when the Hubble finally floated free of the space shuttle's cargo bay.
I remain passionate about astronomy and astrophotography to this day. Sometimes, when I'm out observing in the middle of a cold, dark field, I can almost sense Al standing beside me, talking gently about the Hubble, the Great Orion Nebula, the Seven Sisters and the importance of Polaris. Those were frequent, favorite subjects of his.