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Still, both my parents were optimistic types and I felt safe and loved. It was everything "out there" that worried us. My Mother encouraged me to read about history, dinosaurs and airplanes. And I drew. Crayons, pencils and paints were used up at an incredible rate. Art was becoming a passion if passion can be nurtured in a child.
One thing from the 60s, though, stands out for me. The Apollo missions.
I was home sick from school the day the Eagle had landed. I was awestruck.
My Mother saved the newspaper's front pages to commemorate the day.
I still have them somewhere. A new American hero was born for me in the
word Astronaut and I began to imagine anything was possible.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. had played on my TV, Batman had recently smashed
into my living room (the humor lost for sure on this 6 year-old) and James
Bond assured us that "we" were winning against the bad guys
at the theater. But the show that made the most impression on me was Star
Trek.
Imagine, flying about the cosmos, meeting new civilizations, boldly going
where no man had gone before? It was wondrous. I barely remember it on
prime time it having been cancelled in 1969. But, it soon went into syndication
and began playing on my local UHF station. My UHF converter box barely
got it in.4 But there it was, in the early 1970s, sending me to the stars
in glorious black and white for one hour each weeknight at diner time.
I couldn't get enough. And now I was starting to be able to pay attention
and understand as the 1970s developed.
But, entertainment also began turning dark soon after Star Trek was cancelled.
The 60s began with a more optimistic feeling but as JFK fell, race matters
darkened, RFK and King were murdered and Vietnam worsened the 70s began
with the country in a dour mood. At the theaters Charlton Heston's
Omega Man showed us the end of the world. A few years later Chuck revealed
that Soylent Green is people. And we had already had one movie after another
in which apes ruled the post apocalyptic planet – Heston once again
in the thick of it. Things got darker with each year and in the theaters
by the end of the 70's Mad Max cruised the Australian highways in
search of mayhem and gasoline.
Still, some things excited my curiosity and sense of wonder during the
70s, MAD not-with-standing. Leonard Nimoy went In Search of things strange
and intriguing. What was big foot and what about those crazy statues on
Easter Island? As far as the strange goes, Chariots of the Gods had made us all wonder as the 70s
dawned and Nimoy book-ended the decade with his searches. I loved that
show and wouldn't miss an episode. (It helped that Mr. Spock was
the host, admittedly) And I began to read science fiction novels. A lot
of them.
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