photo (color); "Interviewed by F. Owen Hoffman, July 31, 2004; transcribed by F. Owen Hoffman with editing from Stephen R. Mark, December 2005." - T.p.
To the reader: During the Leonid meteor showers of November 2001 my wife and I camped above 5,000 feet, on top of Hooper's Bald in the Cherokee National Forest of North Carolina. The wonders of the night sky that evening changed something within me. I knew I had to begin to learn more about the stars and galaxies above. I began by reading beginners guides to the stars and planets and purchased my first astronomical binoculars. By February 2002,1 bought my first telescope, an eight inch Dobsonian. The very next week, I had had the good fortune of traveling on business to Los Angeles. Having some free time, I decided to visit a famous telescope store in Woodland Hills. There, I ran into Bob Alborjian, a member of the Los Angeles Sidewalk Astronomers. He had overheard that I had just purchased a Dobsonian telescope and asked if I would like to meet John Dobson himself. I was told to come to Griffith Park Observatory that evening. When I arrived, I saw John Dobson with a ten inch Dobsonian called "Tumbleweed" inviting all within earshot to have a look at the moon and the planets. He was even talking to the Japanese in their language! I was instantaneously convinced of the merits of sidewalk astronomy as practiced by John Dobson. I asked him if he had ever considered taking sidewalk astronomy to the national parks. He laughed, and said, "Of course! National parks are the only places where the seeing is good enough and the public numerous and curious enough to allow us to show off the wonders of the night sky using large telescopes like our home made twenty-four incher." I asked whether or not he had been to Yosemite, and he said, "That was one of the very first parks visited by the Sidewalk Astronomers." I asked him had he been to Crater Lake, and he said, "oh yes, several times." I told him that I was a former ranger-naturalist at Crater Lake and he immediately began to tell me of the kind hospitality offered to him by naturalists Hank Tanski and John Salinas. He also said he knew of park interpreter and planetarium director Tom McDonough. He said he had stopped coming to Crater Lake since the closing of the Rim Center (the Community House) in 1988. He said that he believed it to be absolutely necessary to give slide presentations prior to the use of telescopes, so that people looking through the telescopes would have some appreciation of what they were observing. The closing of the Rim Center made it impossible to give such presentations. Knowing that 2002 would be the year of the park's centennial celebration, I immediately sent out e-mail to all I knew who remembered John Dobson's park visits. I suggested to Superintendent Chuck Lundy that a star party at Crater Lake be organized as a part of the park's centennial celebration and that Dobson be part of this event. As it turned out, this was not to be. The park had other priorities that summer, and night sky interpretation was not among the specific activities planned for the park's centennial. Not to give up on a good idea, I proceeded in the following seasons to promote the possibility of bringing John Dobson back to Crater Lake and promoting the value of dark skies above national parks as both a natural and cultural resource. On July 30-31, 2004, John Dobson returned to Crater Lake as a guest of the Crater Lake Institute to receive the Institute's annual award for excellence in public service "for inspiring dreams about places beyond Earth through pioneering sidewalk astronomy in our national parks and forests, where curiosity and dark skies meet." As a part of this event, the Crater Lake Institute sponsored public presentations by Dobson at Pioneer Hall in Ashland (July 29), the county museum in Fort Klamath (July 30), and at Diamond Lake Resort on the Umpqua National Forest (July 31). No presentations, however, were given within the park proper. The following interview with John Dobson was conducted on July 31, 2004 in the Peyton Room at Crater Lake Lodge. I as interviewer functioned as a Volunteer-in-the Parks. F. Owen Hoffman December 2004 Topics include interviewee's education, background, involvement in the Sidewalk Astronomers, and memories of visits made by the Sidewalk Astronomers to various national parks.
To the reader: During the Leonid meteor showers of November 2001 my wife and I camped above 5,000 feet, on top of Hooper's Bald in the Cherokee National Forest of North Carolina. The wonders of the night sky that evening changed something within me. I knew I had to begin to learn more about the stars and galaxies above. I began by reading beginners guides to the stars and planets and purchased my first astronomical binoculars. By February 2002,1 bought my first telescope, an eight inch Dobsonian. The very next week, I had had the good fortune of traveling on business to Los Angeles. Having some free time, I decided to visit a famous telescope store in Woodland Hills. There, I ran into Bob Alborjian, a member of the Los Angeles Sidewalk Astronomers. He had overheard that I had just purchased a Dobsonian telescope and asked if I would like to meet John Dobson himself. I was told to come to Griffith Park Observatory that evening. When I arrived, I saw John Dobson with a ten inch Dobsonian called "Tumbleweed" inviting all within earshot to have a look at the moon and the planets. He was even talking to the Japanese in their language! I was instantaneously convinced of the merits of sidewalk astronomy as practiced by John Dobson. I asked him if he had ever considered taking sidewalk astronomy to the national parks. He laughed, and said, "Of course! National parks are the only places where the seeing is good enough and the public numerous and curious enough to allow us to show off the wonders of the night sky using large telescopes like our home made twenty-four incher." I asked whether or not he had been to Yosemite, and he said, "That was one of the very first parks visited by the Sidewalk Astronomers." I asked him had he been to Crater Lake, and he said, "oh yes, several times." I told him that I was a former ranger-naturalist at Crater Lake and he immediately began to tell me of the kind hospitality offered to him by naturalists Hank Tanski and John Salinas. He also said he knew of park interpreter and planetarium director Tom McDonough. He said he had stopped coming to Crater Lake since the closing of the Rim Center (the Community House) in 1988. He said that he believed it to be absolutely necessary to give slide presentations prior to the use of telescopes, so that people looking through the telescopes would have some appreciation of what they were observing. The closing of the Rim Center made it impossible to give such presentations. Knowing that 2002 would be the year of the park's centennial celebration, I immediately sent out e-mail to all I knew who remembered John Dobson's park visits. I suggested to Superintendent Chuck Lundy that a star party at Crater Lake be organized as a part of the park's centennial celebration and that Dobson be part of this event. As it turned out, this was not to be. The park had other priorities that summer, and night sky interpretation was not among the specific activities planned for the park's centennial. Not to give up on a good idea, I proceeded in the following seasons to promote the possibility of bringing John Dobson back to Crater Lake and promoting the value of dark skies above national parks as both a natural and cultural resource. On July 30-31, 2004, John Dobson returned to Crater Lake as a guest of the Crater Lake Institute to receive the Institute's annual award for excellence in public service "for inspiring dreams about places beyond Earth through pioneering sidewalk astronomy in our national parks and forests, where curiosity and dark skies meet." As a part of this event, the Crater Lake Institute sponsored public presentations by Dobson at Pioneer Hall in Ashland (July 29), the county museum in Fort Klamath (July 30), and at Diamond Lake Resort on the Umpqua National Forest (July 31). No presentations, however, were given within the park proper. The following interview with John Dobson was conducted on July 31, 2004 in the Peyton Room at Crater Lake Lodge. I as interviewer functioned as a Volunteer-in-the Parks. F. Owen Hoffman December 2004 Topics include interviewee's education, background, involvement in the Sidewalk Astronomers, and memories of visits made by the Sidewalk Astronomers to various national parks.