Do you remember Willy Ley (1906-1969)?

[jtbell]

He was a science writer who focused on rocketry and space travel. I remember reading some of his stuff when I was a kid in the 1960s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willy_Ley

He died in Queens, NY, a few weeks before he was scheduled to be NASA's guest in Houston for the Apollo 11 launch. Recently a canister containing his ashes turned up in the basement of a Manhattan co-op. The president of the co-op's board is now on a mission to send them into space.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/nyregion/willy-ley-rocket-ashes.html

 

[jedishrfu]

How did they wind up in the basement of a co-op?

 

[jtbell]

So far, it appears to be a mystery. Maybe one of his now-deceased relatives lived there, or knew someone who lived there, or worked there. 56 years is a long time.

 

[jtbell]

I visited the Space & Rocketry Museum in Huntsville, Alabama today and saw some of Ley’s books in an exhibit.

 

[diogenesNY]

His books and illustrations made a great contribution to my imagination as a child of the 1970s.

 

[jedishrfu]

I remember those books as well as the Colby books and my favorite, the Zim Golden Nature Guides on Rocks and Minerals, Stars, Weather, Geology, Trees, Birds, Reptiles & Amphibians, Dinosaurs, Sky Observers Guide…


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Guide