John Dobson memories from Linda Marks
I no longer live in the house that could have a plaque hanging on it that reads "JOHN DOBSON SLEPT HERE".
Don't take this the wrong way. What may not be obvious is that he was a penniless, former monk of the Buddhist Vedanta variety.
I learned about John Dobson while taking an adult education astronomy course at the J.A. Foran Planetarium in Milford, Connecticut. (Taught by Allan Sacharow)
I had been visiting local astronomy clubs (Westport, New Britain, and New Haven) to see which one I would later join. There was talk that Dobson was coming out to Connecticut from San Francisco to give a lecture.
I traveled with a few members of the Astronomical Society of New Haven to hear this legendary telescope-maker and cosmologist describe his version of the universe (pronounced "yoo!-nee-vurs) and "how it goes".
I was first hooked by his unique dialect: was it Brit, or a mix of many elements? Sometimes an emphasis was placed on BOLD words, said loudly with great emphasis and nearly with a snarl; other times it was words likely to be unfamiliar that were spaced in sill-uh-bulls so one could not mistake their pronunciation.
The next hook was his way of distributing printed matter. Flung into the air, cast out into the audience, went his flyers. They flew into hands, beyond hands, onto the floor, people smiling and grasping, handing the print to others for reading. If this did not catch you off guard the first time, you MUST not have been paying uh-ten!-shun!
The saying I liked best, applying to grinding your own mirror, went something like "...there is no such thing as a life of sorrow that can follow a boo-boo from making a mirror. You simply flip the thing over and start again!"
I stood in line with my astro-friends for nearly a half-hour to get his autograph on a copy of his treatise of the "Apparitional Universe" - explaining why we may be mistaken about the way we see what the universe actually looks like. I was nearly the last person in line, and I met his eyes, and told him I was interested in his talk and would like to write to him to ask more questions. He took my copy of his treatise and autographed it and added his San Fran address!
I did write to him at least three times and got handwritten replies. He said he was available to come back out east to talk again in the future, and I should communicate with his secretary, Donna. I now had her phone number, and called until I could find him within the tri-state range.
There were these great tentacles that stretched out in an interstate manner, like a calling tree. One astronomy club or an institute of higher learning would call to get John in a car or plane to the next location. I became a car-ferry to, and sometimes from, Greenville, NY, where John would stay for a while with Swami Bruce Hilliger at the Vendanta retreat.
I would bring both of my young sons with me, and we'd take one of the many empty rooms at this venue, which had dozens of acres of land and a stream running through it. We'd eat a quick meal that John cooked (and immediately cleaned before we ate!), sit and talk astronomy, then remain with a group of local astronomers who would see him run a slide show and give a talk. We'd talk a bit while cleaning up, and then me and my boys would go to sleep. Only once while we were there we had clear skies, and I kept the kids up a bit longer to take out the ever-present namesake Dobsonian telescope that was stored in the retreat's garage. I enjoyed being questioned about facts about Saturn that I had no idea how to answer! I would go shopping with John and the kids the next day to repay his kindness with more grocery items.
One occasion I remember best on one of the 3-hour CT to NY trips was John asking me about "why are the bottoms of clouds flat and dark gray?" I had not yet taken a course in meteorology, but John's leading questions got me to think, at least. The next trip, we'd pick up where we left off, like it were the day before. He had a sharp mind for a man in his 70's.
One of the last good times we had with John was in West Haven, CT, at Pam and Gabe's home where he was staying. At least six of us astro-folks took out a Balderdash game and played that with John. There has never been a time when I had as many belly-laughs as we did that night. John had never played it before, but he was still a quick study in his 80's, and as was creative as the rest of us in inventing definitions for funky words.
I never did get to see him again after 2004, but always sent out a Christmas letter to him, the last one sent out not a month ago, directed to Donna Smith. I hope that she got it to him with the news that I'd graduated college as a science teacher.
Not everyone was a fan of John, but having had him as a frequent house-guest, building a 6" reflecting mirror, being with John at many Connecticut Star Parties as he'd "hob and knob", and learning his brand of cosmology was something I'll not likely forget. Even my kids still remember him sleeping on the couch, and sometimes finding him in the morning doing sit-ups on the floor in his underwear he was a one-of-a-kind for sure!
I hope he's out there in the "yoo!-nee-vurs" duking it out with the other departed cosmologists. Maybe with his new perspective from "out there" he'll come up with a different cosmology yet!