[X] My Assistant

[elakdawalla]

(Unmasking myself from the shadows of maternity leave briefly)

Two years ago, when my grandfather died, the extended family descended on his home in order to empty it of the stuff accumulated in a life spanning more than 98 years. I came away from that with just a few random mementos, one of them this 45-rpm record titled "Man on the Moon," narrated by Walter Cronkite.




With the Apollo 11 anniversary, and Cronkite's death today, and me spending some of my maternity leave wandering through the boxes of random stuff I didn't have time to sort while I was working, and moving, and pregnant, I suddenly remembered that I had this thing, and was overcome with the desire to listen to it; it's meaningful both as a connection to the Apollo missions (which were mostly before I was born) and my late grandfather. He would probably have argued with me about the value of money spent on space exploration, yet he kept this record for nearly 40 years.

Of course, I don't have a record player. So I was wondering if anyone knows if this same recording can be found elsewhere; or if anyone has the capability to digitize this one. I see there's a DVD with the same title available on Amazon. But although I may be too young to remember Apollo, I am not too young to remember the rhythmic fuzzy sound of a record spinning on a turntable; I wish I had one to drop this 45 on today!

--Emily

P.S. reading the text on the back, it seems actually to be a 33-rpm record, it's just the size of a 45.