Dale, I remember Dr. Littman fondly as well. He always made me feel like he was genuinely interested in me, and was never too busy to give me a few minutes of his time. I used to stick my head in his office just to say "hi" whenever I went downtown on the bus as a kid (usually to hang-out at the library and planetarium) and he always would smile and ask how I had been, what I had been up to. He would show me books that just came-in that he thought I might be interested in, or take me downstairs and give me advance peeks at upcoming star shows. When I got a little older, he let me hang a black-light painting in the "Black Light Gallery", and let me spruce up a display after the planetariums own model collection fell into some disrepair. He even let me park in the staff lot when I got my driver's license, much to the annoyance of some other staffers, but not the ones who were my friends, astronomer John Mosely and the machinists, Joe Starr (no kidding!) and Mr. Campbell. And yes, one day a guy named Patrick Wiggins got hired-on and he let me wander at-will behind the scenes, too. I spent hundreds of hours in the library poring over old issues of S&T, charts & books. Those are very fond memories. In my opinion, Littman was the best director the place ever had. Nothing against Dr. George or Seth Jarvis, but they are completely out-of-touch with any member of the public who has a genuine interest in the stars. They are mere administrators, concerned with the bottom-line; Dr. Littman was a compassionate, caring, effective leader and teacher. Where the current crop of directors concern themselves with generating profits, Littman concerned himself with bringing the stars to the people. Even the little people, one-at-a-time. Dale wrote:
This is certainly not meant as an affront to Patrick - but I thought the planetarium began to decline after (I believe it was) an overreaching county official terminated director Dr. Mark Littman
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