Jack Horkheimer
Encyclopedia
Jack Horkheimer, born Foley Arthur Horkheimer (June 11, 1938 – August 20, 2010), was the executive director of the Miami Space Transit Planetarium
Miami Science Museum
The Miami Science Museum is an attraction located in the city of Miami, Florida USA. The museum itself also contains the Space-Transit Planetarium, Weintraub Observatory and a wildlife center. The museum is currently working to transplant the museum from its current location to Park West at...

. He was best known for his astronomy show Jack Horkheimer: Star Gazer
Jack Horkheimer: Star Gazer
Star Gazers is a five-minute astronomy show on public television previously hosted by Jack Foley Horkheimer, executive director of the Miami Space Transit Planetarium...

, which started airing on PBS on November 4, 1976.

Early life

Jack Horkheimer was born in 1938 to a wealthy family in Randolph, Wisconsin
Randolph, Wisconsin
Randolph is a village in Columbia and Dodge Counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 1,869 at the 2000 census. The village is located at the southeast corner of the Town of Randolph in Columbia County, although only a tiny portion of the village lies within the town. Most of the...

. His father owned a publishing firm and was the mayor of Randolph, Wisconsin, for 24 years. Horkheimer started his show business career in 1953 at the age of 15 when he hosted a radio show on WBEV
WBEV
WBEV is a radio station broadcasting a News Talk Information format. Licensed to Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, USA, the station is currently owned by Good Karma Broadcasting...

. In 1956, he graduated from Campion Jesuit High School.

During the summers away from college, he travelled the country playing jazz on the piano and organ under the name "Horky". His agents at the Artists Corporation of America ended up giving him the stage name "Jack Foley". He later changed this to "Jack Foley Horkheimer". He graduated from Purdue University
Purdue University
Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...

 with a bachelor of science degree in 1963 as a distinguished scholar.

He moved to Miami, Florida, in 1964 for health reasons and began volunteering at the Miami Science Museum planetarium. He later became its director in 1973.

Career

Horkheimer started his astronomy career in 1964, when he was 26, after he moved to Miami and met astronomer Arthur Smith. Smith was the president of the Miami Museum of Science and the chief of the Southern Cross Astronomical Society. Horkheimer started volunteering at planetarium writing shows and was later offered a position with the museum.

Smith asked Horkheimer to run the Miami Space Transit Planetarium when it opened in 1966. Horkheimer's shows were successful and the planetarium went from losing money to becoming profitable. Horkheimer worked his way up to become the planetarium's educational director and eventually the executive director.

Horkheimer changed the planetarium show from a science lecture to a multimedia event including music, lights and narration. He created the Child of the Universe show for the planetarium in 1972, which became famous and used in other planetariums across the country. Sally Jessy Raphael
Sally Jessy Raphaël
Sally Lowenthal , better known as Sally Jessy Raphael, is an American talk show host, known for the eponymous Sally talk show she hosted for two decades.-Early years:...

 portrayed the voice of the solar system in this show. The show won an international award from the society of European astronomers in 1976. Horkheimer became the executive director of the Miami Space Transit Planetarium in 1973 and stayed there for 35 years until his retirement in 2008.

Jack Horkheimer: Star Gazer

Jack Horkheimer was probably best known for his naked-eye astronomy television show Jack Horkheimer: Star Hustler, which started in 1976 and was broadcast nationally in 1985. Created, produced and written by Horkheimer, the show changed its name to Jack Horkheimer: Star Gazer in 1997 because Internet searches were producing results for the adult magazine Hustler.

Media appearances

Horkheimer was known nationally for his commentaries about "astronomical events." He was a science commentator for local Miami news station, starting in 1973. In 1986, he helped promote an event for viewing Halley's Comet, traveling towards the equator aboard the supersonic airliner Concorde. He appeared on CNN several times, narrating solar eclipses and even hosted shows on Cartoon Network.

Health issues

Horkheimer was born with a congenital degenerative lung disease known as bronchiectasis
Bronchiectasis
Bronchiectasis is a disease state defined by localized, irreversible dilation of part of the bronchial tree caused by destruction of the muscle and elastic tissue. It is classified as an obstructive lung disease, along with emphysema, bronchitis, asthma, and cystic fibrosis...

 and, as a result, suffered from chronic pain. His ailment was not diagnosed until he was 18 years old. During this time, he suffered from radiation sickness and lost his hair as the result of medical X-Ray treatments. In 1957, he had to leave the Honolulu Academy of Fine Arts because it was suspected that he had tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...

. His health issues caused him to move to Miami in 1964 for the humid warm climate.

Horkheimer had been close to death on several occasions because of his health issues. As a result, he had prepared a grave site next to his parents. He also had a tombstone prepared and wrote his own epitaph, which reads;
"Keep Looking Up" was my life's admonition;
I can do little else in my present position.

Death

Horkheimer died at his Florida home on the morning of August 20, 2010 at the age of 72. His death was related to the respiratory ailment from which suffered since childhood.

Horkheimer had never been married and did not have any children. His death was confirmed by his niece, Kathy, and Tony Lima, marketing vice president for the Miami Science Museum, Horkheimer's employer. An email circulated among the museum's staff, stated that they were "very saddened to have just learned that our resident Star Gazer, Jack Horkheimer, passed away today after being ill for quite some time."

Awards and honors

Jack Horkheimer received many awards during his lifetime. These are some of the more major awards and honors he received.
  • International Award for Multi-Media from the society of European astronomers (1976)
  • Klumpke-Roberts Award
    Klumpke-Roberts Award
    The Klumpke-Roberts Award was established from a bequest by astronomer Dorothea Klumpke-Roberts and recognizes outstanding contributions to the public understanding and appreciation of astronomy...

     presented by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
    Astronomical Society of the Pacific
    The Astronomical Society of the Pacific is a scientific and educational organization, founded in San Francisco on February 7, 1889. Its name derives from its origins on the Pacific Coast, but today it has members all over the country and the world...

     (2000)
  • The main belt asteroid (1999 FD9) was renamed 11409 Horkheimer
    11409 Horkheimer
    11409 Horkheimer is a main-belt asteroid discovered March 19, 1999 by the Lowell Observatory Near-Earth Object Search at the Anderson Mesa Station. It is named in honor ofJack F. Horkheimer 11409 Horkheimer (1999 FD9) is a main-belt asteroid discovered March 19, 1999 by the Lowell Observatory...

     by the International Astronomical Union
    International Astronomical Union
    The International Astronomical Union IAU is a collection of professional astronomers, at the Ph.D. level and beyond, active in professional research and education in astronomy...

     (2001)
  • 25th Anniversary Classic Telly Award for Star Gazer (2003)
  • Silver Medallion Award from the city of Miami
  • Honorary Doctorate Degree presented by the International Fine Arts College
  • 12 Good Men Award from Ronald McDonald House
  • Outstanding Contributions Award from the United States House of Representatives
    United States House of Representatives
    The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...


Publications

  • Alchemy at Work: The Stars (1985), Audiobook on Cassette, American Chemical Society,
  • Star of Bethlehem: A Mystery Revealed (1987), VHS video tape, Starlight Telepictures,
  • Star Hustler Video Almanac (1991), VHS video tape, Community Television Foundation of South Florida,
  • Tales of the Night Sky: A Video Anthology of Cosmic Short Stories (1991), VHS video tape, Community Television Foundation of South Florida,
  • Star Hustler Space Oddities (1994), VHS video tape, Community Television Foundation of South Florida,
  • Make the Stars Your Own: A New Way to Look at the Stars (1998), VHS video tape, Community Television Foundation of South Florida,
  • Make the Stars Your Own: A New Way to Look at the Stars (2005), DVD video, Community Television Foundation of South Florida,
  • Stargazing with Jack Horkheimer: Cosmic Comics for the Sky Watcher (2007), book, Cricket Books, ISBN 978-0-8126-7933-5
  • Star Gazer Video almanac (2008), DVD video, Community Television Foundation of South Florida,

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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