posted 08-12-2012 10:40 PM               

Space Autograph of the Week Topic 1: Alan Shepard

The first American to travel into space was Alan B. Shepard aboard Project Mercury's Freedom 7 suborbital flight on May 5, 1961 aboard a Redstone rocket. In addition to being one of the original NASA astronauts Shepard was a naval aviator, flag officer, and test pilot. Shepard was effectively grounded for 5 years (late Project Mercury through Apollo 11 — 1964 to 1969) by Meniere's disease which is an inner-ear disease. For basically this period of time he served as Chief of the Astronaut Office with a tenure from November 1963 through July 1969. The disease was surgically corrected and he was able to return to flight status.

In his second space flight Shepard was the commander of the Apollo 14 mission to the moon. He piloted the LEM to the most accurate landing of all the Apollo missions and was the fifth astronaut to walk on the moon's surface during which he is famously known for hitting two golf balls with a make-shift six-iron. Here is the transcript:

135:08:17 Shepard: (Facing the TV) Houston, while you're looking that up, you might recognize what I have in my hand as the handle for the contingency sample return; it just so happens to have a genuine six iron on the bottom of it. In my left hand, I have a little white pellet that's familiar to millions of Americans. I'll drop it down. Unfortunately, the suit is so stiff, I can't do this with two hands, but I'm going to try a little sand-trap shot here. (Pause)

135:08:53 Mitchell: You got more dirt than ball that time.

135:08:58 Shepard: Got more dirt than ball. Here we go again.

135:09:01 Haise: That looked like a slice to me, Al.

135:09:03 Shepard: Here we go. Straight as a die; one more. (Long Pause)

135:09:20 Shepard: Miles and miles and miles.

135:09:26 Haise: Very good, Al.

After the Apollo 14 mission he resumed his duties as Chief of the Astronaut Office in June 1971 and served in this capacity until he retired from NASA and the Navy on August 1, 1974 and became a successful businessman. Alan Shepard died of leukemia on July 21, 1998 — the 37th anniversary of Gus Grissom's flight.

Ever have a time when you knew something was going to turn out badly but you had to do it anyway... well the autograph of Alan Shepard pictured above is just that... when I arrived for an Alan Shepard booking signing I grabbed a book and got in line right after an acquaintance who I knew was VERY meticulous about things. Not thinking too much about it was my downfall!

It took us about a half-hour to reach Shepard and he handed him the book to sign which he did, so far so good, but then things went downhill fast. He handed Shepard a philatelic cover for his Project Mercury flight. As Shepard was about to sign the cover he stopped him and asked him to sign at a different location. As he was about to sign at the new location he stopped him again to ask him to sign with a pen he had brought with him. I could tell from Shepard's reaction this was going from bad to worse... but Shepard took the pen and when he went to write with it nothing wrote! So Shepard started going in circles with the pen to get the ink to come out - he literally almost went through the paper before it started writing - he signed it and handed it back without looking up.

My turn, and I knew it wouldn't turn out good but the line was too long to start over and I was already late for the next stop on the way home. Shepard did not look up at me or respond to my greeting to him, he took my book and added a sloppy signature and I then handed him the philatelic cover pictured above and you can see the result. I do know that this is an authentic Shepard signature — I saw him write it! — but if I ever tried to sell it as such no one would buy it - now it is just a good conversation piece!

Looking forward to your posts of your favorite Alan Shepard item and any story behind it.

posted 08-14-2012 11:28 AM               

So often, as you've shown, the story behind an autograph can be more interesting, and better, than the autograph. We've seen hundreds of Alan Shepard autographs, but rarely with such an interesting story with them.

Years ago I had a response from Shepard somewhat similar to what Paul has shown us, but a little friendlier.

Right after Shepard retired from NASA, an article about him in my newspaper included his new place of business. I sent a cover there and he nicely signed it (top). Several months later, I tried again, but with my cover returned unsigned and with a "Sorry - out of business - S" inscription on my stuffer card. He did go out of the autographing business then, as he didn't sign TTM for years after that. Then when he started back, he was very cooperative about autographing for several years.

posted 08-14-2012 11:45 AM               

I was also the National Chair for the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS-USA) and knowing Shepard was going to be there, I had been tasked with approaching him about possibly serving as the organization's honorary president.

I caught up with him during the reception prior to the lecture, near the refreshments table. He was very cordial, gave me time to share a brief history of SEDS and make my pitch for him to be our president. He politely explained that his schedule was busy and that he really couldn't take on another organization but was very grateful for the consideration.

Before parting, I shook his hand and then asked if he would grant me an autograph.

As he was signing, a small boy came up to us. I am positive he had no idea who was the man signing my book but reasoned he had to be someone important, so grabbed a napkin off the table, waited until I was done and then asked Shepard to sign the square paper cloth.

It was then I had the chance to witness the 'other' Shepard, the so-called 'icy commander,' as he turned around and brushed off the kid. Part of me wanted to rip the autograph out of my book and give it to the boy — he needed the inspiration more than I did — but didn't.

posted 08-14-2012 03:57 PM               

Many years ago my former colleague was chief fundraiser for a regional medical center, and they'd bring in celebrity guest speakers and performers for public events. Donors over a certain amount would get an item signed by the famous person at a meet-and-greet, and have their picture taken with the celebrity.

Somehow the hospital foundation was able to get Alan Shepard to come. As it was told to me, the flight crew of the private jet invited Shepard to take the controls during the flight, and I believe they let him handle the radio duties on approach; the controllers were amazed to hear the First American in Space coming across their frequency. After they landed, students from a high school next to the airport put on a welcome celebration for Shepard.

The "thank you" gift for the big donors was a small picture frame with the "Project Mercury" postage stamp inside, tastefully matted. Shepard signed each across the glass with a fine gold paint marker.

One day my former colleague came over to my office and handed me a little box. Inside was one of these little framed stamps with Shepard's autograph across the glass. He'd had a couple extra, and after he found out how crazy I was for space history, he dug one out and brought it in for me. Made my day, it did. (Apologies for not having a picture of it handy; the little item is currently in a secure place, as it's priceless for several reasons.)

posted 08-14-2012 06:15 PM               

In the late 90's when Mr. Shepard was no longer signing through the mail, my son and I concocted a plan that we hoped would make his autograph request stand out enough to get a response from the Admiral. I don't know if it was the letter or our frugal use of postage stamps, but Shawn received his litho soon after sending it out.

posted 08-15-2012 03:41 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Hart Sastrowardoyo:
I'm surprised, given the exchange, it shows all five fingers...

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posted 08-26-2012 09:57 AM               

That being said, here is a "clueless beginning collector" story about how I got Alan Shepard's autograph. I started collecting in middle school in 1986, and soon heard about commemorative postal covers that one could get autographed. So I made my own for each surviving Mercury astronaut by (of course) cutting apart a 1960(?) National Geographic and gluing pictures on 5x7 manila envelopes. As for the postmark, I walked to my local post office on the 25th anniversary of Grissom's Mercury flight.

The National Air and Space Museum had just printed some nice brochures about Project Mercury... so of course I got them stamped too. And then immediately spilled something on them.

Shepard was kind enough to sign them for me. Sure would have been nice if I'd known how to track down a litho or red serial # photo of him on the moon in the pre-Internet days, but oh well. I'm happy to have them in my collection.

A couple of years later a dealer at a Universal Autograph Collectors Club convention offered to trade my John Young-signed STS-1 landing postcard for an unusual 3D model representation of Apollo 14's ascent stage lifting off from the moon. (It has Apollo 14-specific information on the back.) For years I thought this was a bad trade, but after I decided to assemble small photographs with just the autographs of each moonwalker for a display, I was very happy I had traded.

posted 09-04-2012 05:05 PM               

Here's a photo that was signed and dated on a very special day: