- He was best known for his astronomy show Jack Horkheimer: Star Gazer, which started airing on PBS on November 4, 1976.
- Back before our local PBS station went to broadcasting 24/7, you could rely on a visit from Jack Horkheimer just before the station signed off.
Jack Horkheimer. Jack Horkheimer. AKA Foley Arthur Horkheimer. Born: 1. 1- Jun- 1. Birthplace: Randolph, WIDied: 2. Aug- 2. 01. 0Location of death: Miami, FLCause of death: Respiratory failure.
The program, syndicated in both one- minute and five- minute weekly episodes, featured Horkheimer strolling among the planets and sometimes sitting on Saturn's rings while offering explanatory tidbits of astronomy, presented over an appropriately spacey all- electronic rendition of Claude Debussy's Arabesque #1. His walks and talks through the skies centered on heavenly objects and phenomena that could be observed even without a telescope, with advice on what to look for in the night sky. Each episode ended with Horkheimer encouraging the audience to .
Jack Horkheimer was born on June 11, 1938 in Randolph, Wisconsin, USA as Foley Arthur Horkheimer. He was a writer and producer, known for Star Gazers (1976), Star of. This is an episode list for the 1976 season of the astronomy TV show Jack Horkheimer: Star Hustler starring Jack Horkheimer. During this season, the show still had.
The young Horkheimer was afflicted with bronchiectasis, a chronic and progressive disease of dilated, enlarged bronchi that results from lower respiratory tract infection, which made his childhood miserable. Raised devoutly Catholic, he felt that the illness was a curse from God, and attempted suicide when he was barely twelve years of age. After graduating from high school in 1. He studied drama at Purdue, hoping to become a playwright, and when his disease grew worse he settled in Miami, where the climate was easier on his lungs. He found a job to pay the bills, but loved volunteering at the planetarium in his spare time.
After three years of volunteer work he was hired at the planetarium, and in 1. Executive Director.
He soon became a local celebrity and TV- friendly science spokesman, and in 1. Star Hustler (later re- named Star Gazer) for his local PBS affiliate, WPBT.
The program was syndicated after 1. On many stations the program aired late in the evening, or as the last broadcast before signing off. It was intended as a low- key open- air stargazing party loosely inspired by a schlock science book that predicted the end of the universe, and Horkheimer had organized numerous similar events without any problems. But this party was promoted by an area rock station as sort of an astronomical Woodstock, described as a .
Perhaps predictably in hindsight, a full- scale riot ensued when no musical bands took the stage. Arrests and injuries numbered in the hundreds, stabbings and beatings were reported, and though no- one was killed, Horkheimer said he was unable to sleep through the night for a week. I can do little else in my present position. The program has continued after his death, retitled Star Gazers and featuring new hosts. Horkheimer never married, and suffered from severe acrophobia — fear of heights.