Astronaut Buzz
Yes, they gave him some fame by making him an astronaut—but only after first mocking him as the inventor of the anti-gravity toilet. — ‘An Einganeer’s Tale’, page 14
… even real astronauts have the same problem (Buzz Aldrin, handing out moon pies on Halloween to Trick-or-Treaters who couldn’t care less who he was!). — ‘An Einganeer’s Tale’, page 14
Buzz Aldrin was the first man to have ever stepped on the moon with the same degree I have, a BS in mechanical engineering. I referenced Buzz in my book without knowing a whole lot about him. I have since learned a great deal. He was (rather is, he just turned 95) not the starved-for-attention individual I thought he might be when I referenced him. On the contrary, he managed to leverage his one moon feat into a persona that has brought him fame and fortune, unlike any astronaut before or after him. But, along the way, he went though severe depression, alcoholism, and three marriages.
His first wife (of 20 years) left him because she could no longer cope with what he had become. She’s quoted as saying she married an engineer, and here he was a hero — not because that was better, but because it destroyed the person she married. Buzz could not cope with having accomplished his entire life’s purpose by the age of 39. His life no longer had the rigid structure his upbringing, schooling, and military service had given him. He became a drunk, lost his family, and tried to make a living selling used cars. He also burned through a second marriage to a woman he met in a bar.
His third wife literally saved him. She guided him to building a multi-million dollar empire as a speaker, businessman, and entertainer — then she rightfully took half of it when they divorced some 20 years later. Soon thereafter he was suing his children over financial interests and guardianship . Buzz has since remarried — a cute blond, thirty years younger than him. They’ve been married two years.
Nearly all other astronauts have also held engineering degrees of some sort. And nearly all have chosen to live out their lives after their space adventures in relative obscurity and with little turbulence. Buzz went in a different direction. Perhaps engineers aren’t really cut out for the fame and fortune path after all.
Fun fact: Buzz’s mother’s maiden name was Moon!