Jack Horkheimer, beloved late night television astronomy spot host, has died aged 72. As reported in Friday’s Miami Herald he was done in by a long-term respiratory ailment.
From sometime in the very early eighties until the late-early 90s I watched almost no TV. The only shows I would watch were the late-night fare on Sunday evenings while doing homework… typically MTV’s 120-Minutes and Doctor Who reruns on local PBS station WMHT 17 in Schenectady, New York. This later show was followed by Jack’s show, The Star Hustler (later the Star Gazer). His overly enthusiastic delivery and tacky ‘Members Only’ leather jacket coupled with actually interesting info about what the stars, moon, meteorites and other space stuff were up to was a compelling combo, and the perfect close to a night’s viewing before the final station sign off. Best of all was the special effect that closed his show for a time… after walking off into the distance his body exploded into bits of star stuff. Sadly, I could not find a clip of this online. The example above, complete with the close of a BBC Programme and the station sign off, is a good substitute. Good night this one last time Jack.
