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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Lovell Speaks At Gonzaga

We live in a different world than the one that spawned men such as James Lovell. We’re more jaded now, less taken by the romance of machismo.

Yet time hasn’t blunted Lovell’s appeal. And that selfsame appeal is at least partly why “Apollo 13,” the movie version of his autobiographical book “Lost Moon,” has earned more than $165 million at the nation’s collective box office.

In his book and in real life, Lovell comes across as less a traditional hero than a regular guy with heroic qualities. Clearly, he came by the “right stuff” naturally.

Lovell, who commanded the Apollo 13 spacecraft during its troubled 1970 trip to the moon and back, will reveal a bit of his nature during a lecture at Gonzaga University (see box).

Lovell was just 42 when Apollo 13 blasted off on April 11, 1970. But he was an experienced astronaut. The backup to Neil Armstrong on historic Apollo 11, Lovell had already logged a record 572 hours in space.

His dream was to join the exclusive club founded by Armstrong, and to which only four other men at the time belonged: men who had walked on the moon.

Instead, Lovell has gone down in history as the commander of a spacecraft that faced the longest odds not to complete its mission.

Grace under pressure was his trademark. And that’s as good a definition of hero as any other.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: PREVIEW James Lovell will lecture at 8 p.m. Thursday at Gonzaga’s COG. Tickets: $3 at the door.

This sidebar appeared with the story: PREVIEW James Lovell will lecture at 8 p.m. Thursday at Gonzaga’s COG. Tickets: $3 at the door.