PALMDALE BLVD

Volume I No: 8 “Where every story is a positive story.” May 2018

THE LETTERMEN
Bringing Back the Memories
Story Page 3
Bobby Poynton, Donovan Tea, Tony Butala
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2 PALMDALE BLVD
PALMDALE BLVD
“Where every story is a positive story.”
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PALMDALE FIN & FEATHER CLUB
ACCEPTING NEW MEMBERS
The Palmdale Fin and Feather Club just had their
Adult and Kids Derby. We had a great turnout with
over 150 kids. Each kid left with a prize that day. The
Adult Derby 1st place winner was a 7.05 pounder win-
ning $988.00.
We will be stocking two more loads of trout this sea-
son. The Bass Crappie and Bluegill are doing really
well already this year. The Fin and Feather Club is still
accepting new members. If you would like informa-
tion please call 661.947.2884.
Senator Wilk Introduces Landmark Animal
Welfare and Violence Prevention Legislation
SACRAMENTO – California State Senator Scott Wilk
(Republican - Antelope Valley), has introduced a Bill ti-
tled, “Animal Welfare and Violence Intervention Act of
2018.”
The legislation aims to address the link between animal
abuse and violence towards humans, and to stop the esca-
lation of dangerous behavior among offenders who hurt
animals.
“Animal abuse crimes should be treated seriously be-
cause they are serious,” said Wilk, himself the parent of
a rescue dog. “Our animal friends need and deserve our
protection, but this bill isn’t just about them. It’s also
about our mothers and daughters, our friends and neigh-
bors, our children and grandchildren; it’s about all of us.”
Wilk went on to cite statistics that show in some cases 60
percent of domestic violence offenders also abused ani-
mals at some point and that 70 percent of the most violent
prisoners in a study of federal prisons had serious animal
abuse in their histories.
“There’s no denying the existence of a problem here and
it has become ever more apparent that our current mech-
anisms for identifying and addressing these offenders is
neither restorative, nor rehabilitative in any meaningful
way,” said Wilk.
The bill will require offenders convicted under animal
abuse crimes to undergo mandatory mental health assess-
ments and, if deemed beneficial by the assessing mental
health professional, to seek ongoing counseling. The bill
also requires offenders to enroll in an animal offender ed-
ucation course that will teach them proper techniques for
interacting with animals in a positive way.
Through early intervention with mental health and ed-
ucation we can begin to weaken the link between animal
abuse and future violence against humans. The link is
well established, but it isn’t unbreakable.
The bill is supported by legislative, animal rights and
law enforcement leaders including the Animal Legal
Defense Fund (ALDF) and former Los Angeles County
Prosecutor in charge of animal crimes, Deborah Knaan.
“Ferreting out mental health issues and educating of-
fenders will go a long way toward preventing more ani-
mals, and humans, from being victimized in the future,”
said Knaan who now runs Benchmark Animal Rehabil-
itative Curriculum an animal abuse education nonprofit
that, along with Wilk and ALDF, is spearheading efforts
to enact the legislation.
All content belongs to Palmdale Blvd newspaper and is
copyrighted. Re-printing stories require written
approval by Palmdale Blvd newspaper.
Another of the Mojave Desert’s
Tamer Form of Fauna
By MARILYN DALRYMPLE
Contributing Writer
In a previous column, I wrote about the Lepus Californi-
cus or black-tailed Jackrabbit. In this column, I want to
introduce readers to the Sylvilagus auduboni or the desert
cottontail, a true rabbit.
The cuddly, round and soft looking cottontails like to live
in populated places, such as school campuses, parks, and
large landscaped yards.
Shrubs are readily available for them to hide under, there
is tender grass for them to eat, and another desert dweller,
the ground squirrel, provides plenty of holes to occupy.
The cottontail is a buff or brown color above and white
underneath. Their ears are 3-4 inches long, and they can
weigh up to 3 ½ pounds.
When frightened, they run in a random pattern, to con-
fuse their enemy, at nearly 18 miles per hour. They can
swim and climb trees to escape predators if needed.
Cottontails are herbivores, and eat plants, including
grasses, shrubs, and even cacti; however, 90 percent of
their diet is grass. They will forage on domestic crops,
even the bark of fruit trees.
The male rabbit’s home area is up to ten acres, a female’s
one acre. They reach sexual maturity at three months old
and breed from February to March.
Cottontails can have up to five litters per year. The five
to eight baby rabbits in each litter are called kittens. They
are born blind and hairless but can leave their nest at 14
days old and are weaned at 21 to 28 days old.
They are active at night when temperatures are cooler; by
the time the thermometer reaches 80 degrees, their activ-
ity decreases. The average lifetime of a cottontail is two
years in the wild.
Surprisingly, in America, there are 13 sub-species that
fall under the main cottontail species.
A fun fact from Backyard Rabbits - Backyard Nature
with Jim Conrad is rabbit and hare skulls (Lagomorphs)
are easily distinguished by two skull characteristics: 1.
Rostral fenestration, which is all the holes in the side of
the animal’s “snout” or rostrum, and, 2. A double set of
upper incisor teeth.

An American Original vaudevillians.”
By THOMAS FITZGERALD
Staff Writer
What’s in a name? For an individual, not much. With
rare exceptions, it’s essentially a metaphysical certainty
no single person on earth has a name not shared by at
least one other person.
For a movie, book, song, vocal group or band, a unique
name is everything; copyright laws see to this.
Though a movie, book or song is what it is, forever, over
the years, a band or vocal group may change personnel –
the song’s the same but the people singing it are not.
Tony Butala is an original and founding member of the
vocal group, The Lettermen – a name that conjures in the
mind a clear picture of the vocal group’s intended image.
Over the decades, other than Butala, the group has had
singers come and go, and today Butala is joined by Don-
ovan Tea and Bobby Poynton.
The one change Butala would have made in the 50 plus
year career of one of the most popular vocal groups in
history is a surprising one. “We chose the wrong name!”
exclaimed Butala. “In the late 50s, when you started a
vocal group and wanted to stand out from the crowd, all
you had to do was use a novel new name that would give
your group a unique look and image.”
In the late 50s, many vocal groups chose school-type
names such as Danny & the Juniors, The Four Freshmen
and The Four Preps.
Because of the trend, Butala’s group chose the name
The Lettermen and they wore lettered sweaters while per-
forming.
When school-themed named groups became passé in the
early 60s, The Lettermen wanted to market a new name,
but were rebuffed by their label, Capitol Records.
Capitol claimed because they already had a few hit sin-
gles and albums and developed a loyal following and
grown to become a phenomenal success in colleges and
nightclubs, changing the vocal group’s name would be a
mistake being they were an established worldwide name.
The Lettermen did pack away the sweaters in mothballs,
and fortunately for them, fans and the general public got
past the sweaters.
Even though, the name and image of the group for the
last five decades definitely has meant, The Lettermen.
In February 1958, The Lettermen name was featured on
the marquee of the Desert Inn Hotel Resort Showroom in
Las Vegas, Nevada, where Butala, Mike Barnett and Tal-
madge Russell performed in the record-shattering revue,
Newcomers of 1928.
That production starred Paul Whiteman who was the
most popular big band leader of the 1920s and 30s, along
with silent film comic Buster Keaton, singers Rudy Val-
lee and Harry Richmond, film star Fifi D’Orsay and the
sneezing comedian Billy Gilbert.
Butala played the part of Bing Crosby, who sang lead
in the Rhythm Boys; the vocal group that had hits and
toured in the 1920s with Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra.
By the time of the 1958 Las Vegas performance, Butala
was no Johnny-come-lately to entertainment because he
first began performing before audiences as a child.
“We pride ourselves in the fact that from the very be-
ginning, before we were a vocal group, each of us were
in the entertainment field,” said Butala, who began sing-
ing professionally when he was 7 years old. “I was doing
shows on my own as a soloist at 7, 8, 9, 10 years old,
doing impersonations of Al Jolson and Eddie Cantor and
MAY 2018
Butala is the eighth of 11 children, and born in a five
room house in Sharon, Pennsylvania, a town bordering
Ohio.
When his mother and father met, his mom was an or-
ganist in the Croatian Catholic Church in nearby Farrell,
Pennsylvania.
His father was a Sharon, Pennsylvania, native and a pa-
rishioner at a Roman Catholic Church in his town. He
met his future wife at the Croatian Church in Farrell after
agreeing to attend due to the insistence of his father that
he visit his, “heritage church.”
“When my dad saw the organist [my mom] in this Cro-
atian Catholic Church, before the service was over, my
dad voluntarily joined the choir,” said Butala. “And four
months later, my mother and father were married.”
As a boy, Butala said he was skinny and hyperactive,
adding, “I was the ADD kid. I never settled down. I was
always doing something.”
At a loss on what to do with her son and all his energy,
his mom, at the advice of a neighbor suggesting she enroll
him in dancing school, did just that.
At 6 years old, Butala found himself learning dance from
Dottie Stewart, a local woman who had just returned from
New York City after dancing as a Rockette – Radio City
Music Hall’s legendary dance company.
Butala auditioned, was accepted, and luckily became the
only boy in a dance class of 35 girls. He faced ridicule in
school from boys who teased and made fun of his learn-
ing ballet, tap, adagio and acrobat.
“I thought they were silly for teasing me,” said Butala.
“I’m in a dancing school with 35 girls and myself. I’d say,
‘What are you guys teasing me for?’ I always had that at-
titude, that I was something special. Not in an egotistical
way, but in a lucky way. I was Blessed.”
At his dance school’s first recital, before about 700 peo-
ple, Butala performed the opening number and said he
received a standing ovation.
Later in the show, Butala said he sang again while the
girls danced, leading to another standing ovation. This
was followed by a standing ovation for the dance group
at the end of the show.
“I got so big headed,” said Butala. “After the show I
met my mother and dad at the stage entrance, and I was
a big star. My dad said to me, ‘Excuse me. I hate to burst
your bubble, but you realize the only reason you got those
standing ovations is because your mother is one of 16
children, and I’m one of eight, and 90 percent of the 700
people in that auditorium were your relatives.”
His father’s words of wisdom brought the 6 year old
back down to earth and taught him a valuable lesson.
“His comment made me take a better approach; that I
was privileged being able to sing in front of people, rather
than I was doing anybody a favor,” said Butala. “That’s
held through my whole career up to now. I never feel I’m
doing a favor when I’m on that stage. I feel indebted to
the audience. They’re the ones paying money to see me. I
owe them giving the best show I can give.”
In November 1950, the 11 year old Butala made his way
to California due to a family illness. His mother’s cousin,
who lived in Los Angeles, became ill with pneumonia,
and his mom – a nurse by profession – went to take care
of her, and brought Butala with her at her husband’s sug-
gestion.
Butala left Sharon, Pennsylvania, and the 12 degree
temperature and three feet of snow, and three days later
3
arrived at Los Angeles’ Union Station and was welcomed
with 76 degrees and a clear, blue, sunny sky, and never
looked back.
“It was like landing in paradise,” said Butala.
Once in California, Butala picked up right where he left
off – singing and entertaining family and neighbors.
My dad said to me, ‘Excuse me.
I hate to burst your bubble, but
you realize the only reason you
got those standing ovations
is because your mother is one
of 16 children, and I’m one of
eight, and 90 percent of the 700
people in that auditorium were
your relatives.’
Impressed by his talent, a neighbor suggested to his
mom that she take Butala to Hollywood to audition with
Mitchell Boys Choir, a choir established in 1934.
Robert Mitchell was an original silent film accompa-
nists who played organ in theatres from 1924 to 1928.
Mitchell’s choir earned hundreds of credits in movies
and television programs, including 1944’s Best Picture
winner, Going My Way, starring Bing Crosby, and, The
Bishop’s Wife, a comedy feature film from 1947 starring
Cary Grant, Loretta Young, and David Niven.
Butala got his audition and sang in front of Bob Mitch-
ell, and was accepted. “It was one of those things where,
you’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you
don’t,” explained Butala. “The good news was I was ac-
cepted to the Mitchell Boys Choir, and the bad news was
I was accepted into the Mitchell Boys Choir.”
As required, Butala signed a one year contract and joined
the Musicians Union and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG),
and three days later, as a member of the choir, he was in
his first movie.
While in Mitchell’s office with his mother, he phoned
his father to give him the news, and as many years ago,
his dad provided sage counsel, asking Butala what he
wanted to do.
Butala told his father, “I want to sing,” and the rest is
history. “My mother got on train a couple days later, cry-
Continued on Page 4
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4 PALMDALE BLVD

The Lettermen
Continued From Page 3 stooges you’re singing with, I’ll make you a star.’ After When I Fall In Love was another soft, slow ballad that
several years of this, she changed her name to Connie reached Number 7 and established The Lettermen as the
ing every mile back home.” Stevens and became Cricket on Hawaiian Eye, a top TV most romantic singing group of the 60s.
Many of the children in the choir lived in Los Angeles, series of the late 50s.” The next year, their first original song, written by Barry
but children like Butala who were not locals lived in a When Stevens left, Butala auditioned girl after girl to Mann and Cynthia Weill, Come Back Silly Girl, reached
dormitory. find a replacement but found no one suitable, so he decid- Number 17 and The Lettermen’s debut album, A Song for
Every Sunday night, Mitchell would phone Butala’s par- ed to keep what remained of the group and perform as a Young Love, hit the Top 10, their first of 32 straight Top
ents in Pennsylvania to report on Butala’s progress. male trio called The Lettermen. 40 hit albums.
The choir sang in nearly two dozen languages. On Fri- The early vision of The Lettermen was of three very Butala’s breathy vocals were the lead on most of The
day nights, the choir sang in Yiddish and Hebrew while strong soloists, each having the ability and showmanship Lettermen’s many hit records, except Theme From A
performing at the Wilshire Jewish Temple in Beverly to perform and entertain an audience on their own, but Summer Place.
Hills, and on Sunday mornings they sang in Greek and who also had the individual discipline needed to be group In many polls, The Lettermen were named Best New
Arabic for the Orthodox Church before moving on to sing singers. Group or Best Vocal Group as two more albums followed
in English at an Episcopal Church later in the morning, in 1962 - Once Upon A Time, and, Jim, Tony and Bob, the
followed by singing a noon High Mass in Latin at a dif- Another soon-to-be-famous latter an effort to segue away from The Lettermen name.
ferent location. classmate was Concetta In- The 60s and early 70s saw The Lettermen score over 25
“I was the luckiest kid in the world,” said Butala, who chart hit singles, including, Theme From A Summer Place
spent four years with choir – as he aged and his voice
goglia, who is better known by – Number 16 in 1965 – and, from the Sandra Dee/Troy
changed, it was time to move on. her stage name, Connie Ste- Donahue film, Goin’ Out of My Head/Can’t Take My Eyes
While in the boys choir, Butala appeared in the classic vens. Together with two male Off You – Number 7 in 1968 – the first hit record ever to
films, White Christmas, War of the Worlds, On Moonlight classmates – Jimmy Blaine completely integrate two songs as one, and then, Hurt So
Bay, and was the voice of one of the Lost Boys in the clas- Bad, which reached Number 12 in 1969.
sic Walt Disney animated film, Peter Pan. and Art Westgate – Butala and The Lettermen signature sound made romantic hit stan-
Graduating Hollywood Professional School (high Ingoglia formed a quartet they dards of love songs such as Smile, Put Your Head On My
school) in 1956, Butala had many soon-to-be famous called, The Fourmost. Shoulder, Shangri-La, Love, and, Traces/Memories.
co-graduates. Among the 32 consecutive albums that charted in the
They include singer, musician and actor Jimmy Boyd (I They came up with a sound that ranged between big Top 100 in the US, four were certified gold: The Letter-
Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus), child actor and art- band vocal groups like the Modernaires, Pied Pipers, men!!!...And Live (1967), Goin’ Out of My Head (1968),
ist Bobby Driscoll, who starred in several Disney Studio Mills Brothers, Four Freshmen, and early R&B, soft rock Best of The Lettermen (1969), and, Hurt So Bad (1970).
films (Treasure Island), and was the voice for Peter Pan groups such as the Ink Spots, Flamingos and the Platters. During this same time, The Lettermen toured with
(1953), Molly Bee (Pinky Lee’s sidekick on The Pinky By 1960, The Lettermen – now Butala, Jim Pike and George Burns, Jack Benny, Bob Hope and Bill Cosby.
Lee Show), Brenda Lee (47 US chart hits in the 60s and is Bob Engemann – were signed to Warner Brothers Re- They performed on bills with Bing Crosby, Frank Sina-
ranked fourth in that decade surpassed only by Elvis Pres- cords and released their first singles, Their Hearts Were tra, Jackie Gleason, Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin, Jimmy
ley, the Beatles and Ray Charles. Lee recorded the 1960 Full of Spring, When, The Magic Sound, and, Two Hearts. Durante, Debbie Reynolds, Sam Cooke, and Sammy Da-
hit, I’m Sorry, and 1958’s Rockin’ Around the Christmas In 1961, Nic Venet, a new, young, creative artists and vis, Jr.
Tree, and, Jill St. John (Bond girl Tiffany Case in, Dia- repertoire (A&R), man with Capitol Records, who years The Lettermen appeared on the Tonight Show with John-
monds Are Forever). earlier had written a few songs with Butala, was played ny Carson, and several times on The Ed Sullivan Show.
Another soon-to-be-famous classmate was Concetta In- these first recordings. They were regulars on The Red Skelton Show and The
goglia, who is better known by her stage name, Connie Venet was impressed by their unique, natural, close har- Hollywood Palace.
Stevens. Together with two male classmates – Jimmy monic blend and was convinced he could produce a hit Butala estimates the group made some 200 appearanc-
Blaine and Art Westgate – Butala and Ingoglia formed a record, so signed them to what turned out to be an over 25 es on television shows such as, Dick Clark’s American
quartet they called, The Fourmost. year contract with Capitol Records. Bandstand series, Shindig, and, Hullabaloo.
“We started singing around L.A., and we had no re- For The Lettermen debut single record in the summer of They were interviewed and performed on talk shows
cording contract,” said Butala. “Every time we’d sing for 1961, Capitol Records decided to put a romantic ballad and variety shows with Johnny Carson, Mike Douglas,
someone, Connie was so cute, so adorable, the producers on the B-side of, That’s My Desire, which was an attempt Merv Griffin, Jack Paar, Milton Berle, Steve Allen, Dinah
would ask her to step aside and say, ‘If you leave the three at a doo-wop single. Shore and many others throughout the 60s and 70s, culti-
The thinking was disc jockeys would have to play the vating new crops of fans.
A-side because the B-side was so sweet and slow, and The Lettermen have also enjoyed international success
did not necessarily encompass the commercial sound of touring Japan, Philippines, China, Thailand, Singapore,
the day. Korea, Hong Kong, Germany, France, South America,
That B-side was, The Way You Look Tonight, a soft, me- Canada, Mexico and even Saudi Arabia. They have sung
lodic and romantic departure from the Rock ‘n’ Roll mu- and recorded in over 14 languages and have received 18
sic of the day. Listener requests made it a must for disc gold records internationally.
jockey play lists nationwide and the song shot to Number Their All-American, clean-cut, no-drugs image may
13 on the Billboard chart. have been a drawback in the hard rock era of the 60s and
The group’s second single that year did even better. 70s, but The Lettermen stood by it.
“I never thought people who did drugs were hip,” said
Glenn's Lawn Care Butala.
As the British Invasion diminished American artist re-
cord sales in the 60s, television and concert appearances
sustained The Lettermen career.
The group has been a rarity that can perform from small
college campuses to the posh Empire Room at The Wal-
dorf Astoria in New York City.
661.992.3575 Continued on Page 5
 The Lettermen
Continued From Page 4
They’ve performed everywhere from the
Iowa State Fair to main showrooms in Las
Vegas, Nevada, and U.S.O. shows in the
jungles of Thailand and Cambodia, to el-
egant concert halls with the world’s most
renowned symphony orchestras.
The Lettermen stage wardrobe is com-
prised of denims and jeans for outdoor
festivals and fairs, casual dress for col-
leges, tuxedos for hotel showrooms, and
glitzier garb for the main Las Vegas casi-
no showrooms.
“One of our rules is to never dress below
the level of our audience,” said Butala.
The Lettermen have also appeared in
most major sports arenas in the US by
singing their touching A Cappella rendi-
tion of the National Anthem.
People Magazine honored their version
of The Star-Spangled Banner by voting
the group, “one of the best ‘anthem-sing-
ing’ groups in sports.”
The Lettermen have continually record-
ed, averaging at least one album a year.
They formed their own Alpha Omega Re-
cords in 1979.
Some of their newer CD albums, now
numbering over 75, are: The Lettermen
– Favorites, The Lettermen – Best Of
Broadway, The Lettermen – Live In The
Philippines, their holiday CD, The Most
Wonderful Time of the Year, and one of
their latest releases, The Lettermen – New
Direction.
During its over 55 year career, the trio has
gone through a few personnel changes.
Engemann left in 1967, replaced by Gary
Pike, Jim Pike’s younger brother. A few
years later, due to vocal problems, Jim left
the group and was replaced by his even
younger brother, Donny Pike.
The group stayed stable with this combi-
nation through the 70s and early 80s led
by the constant lead singer, Tony Butala.
Since then, Donovan Tea, Bobby Poyn-
ton, Ernie Pontiere, Darren Dowler, Don
Campeau, Chad Nichols and Mark Pres-
ton have each had stints as members of
The Lettermen.
Regardless who sings with Butala, his for-
mula for success is simple and remains the
same as it was when The Lettermen first
started.
“Most groups in that era had one lead
singer…a good looking guy with a per-
sonality, and two or three guys behind
him going, ‘Doo-wa, doo-wa,’” said Buta-
la. “The concept of The Lettermen was to
find three good looking guys that all have
solo capabilities and can carry the show.
Put three lead singers together in a group
to be a stronger group, instead of me being
the lead and a couple guys going, ‘Doo-
wa, doo-wa’ behind me. That’s the con-
cept that made The Lettermen different
and better than most groups.”
MAY 2018
U.S. Human Exploration Goals and
Commerce Space Competitiveness
Testimony of Apollo 7
Astronaut Walter
Cunningham - 24 Feb 2015
I appreciate the opportunity to share my
opinion on where I believe our space pro-
gram has been slipping and some of the
things I believe NASA must do to maintain
America’s lead in space exploration. This
is my personal opinion but it is shared by
many of my contemporaries.
Humans have always been driven to
explore the unknown, to discover new
worlds, to push our boundaries and then
reach out for the next new world. The
technological breakthroughs and scientif-
ic discoveries from opening new frontiers
have benefitted our society for centuries.
We have the responsibility and the oppor-
tunity to explore the next frontier.
In the 15th and 16th centuries the fron-
tier was in the new world and England,
Spain and Portugal were crossing the seas
in search of their country’s greatness. In
1519, Ferdinand Magellan set sail on one
of the most famous voyages of exploration
in history—the first voyage around the
world. He set out with five ships and 270
sailors. Three years later, only one of the
original ships returned and only 18 of the
original crewmen still alive.
In the 1960s, we set sail on another ocean;
one whose farthest shores we can never
reach. This new ocean was more pristine
than was the new world before voyages of
Columbus and Magellan. As exploration
of the new world was inevitable 500 years
ago, so too is our exploration of space.
Any project as complex as Apollo re-
quires three things: resources, technology,
and—most important—the will to do it.
In 1961, America was willing to take the
risk of going to the Moon. It was human
risk, and technical risk, economic risk and
political risk. The Apollo Program took
initiative and leadership. When President
Kennedy made his commitment to land a
man on the Moon not a single American
had yet been in orbit!
With the Apollo Program, America took
the historical role of opening the next fron-
tier. Astronauts were at the tip of the spear
and we got the glory but the success of the
Apollo program was due to the collective
efforts of 400,000 members of the team—
engineers, operators, managers and con-
tractors. With the whole world watching,
we accepted the challenge, took the risk
and changed the way we all perceived our
world. During Apollo, the American space
program was unique. Over the past 40
years, NASA has enjoyed many great ac-
complishments. But as the agency evolved
the management culture has changed and
it has not always been for the better.
Space is the most hostile environment
into which man has ever ventured. NASA
should work to prevent mishaps but those
efforts should be balanced against the
objectives they are trying to accomplish.
Spaceflight will always be expensive and
manned spaceflight will always involve
risk and the chance of failure. Exploration
is not about eliminating risk; it’s about
managing risk!
Motivated by the Cold War and a national
commitment, we accomplished a landing
on the Moon in eight years. Today, after
50 years of experience and technology
development, a manned mission to the
next frontier—Mars, seems decades out of
reach, primarily because we do not have a
national commitment.
Our Apollo Program made America
pre-eminent in space and the world’s most
technologically advanced nation. It led
to such things as the Space Shuttle—the
greatest flying machine ever built by man,
the International Space Station (ISS) and
the Hubble space telescope. The technolo-
gy that made this possible was funded by
the American people and it has infiltrated
virtually all areas of industry.
NASA’s portion of the federal budget
peaked at 4 percent in 1965. For the past
40 years it has remained below one percent
and for the last 15 years it has been driving
toward 0.4 percent of the federal budget.
While NASA has accomplished many
things and made manned spaceflight much
more routine, we have not challenged the
next frontier—the Manned exploration of
Mars. Manned exploration is the most ex-
pensive space venture and, consequently,
the most difficult for which to obtain polit-
ical support. Manned exploration of Mars
will only be possible if our government
initiates and funds such a program.
While our world has been changing and
space technology improving, NASA man-
agement has been aging, layers have been
added and politics plays an ever growing
role. NASA seems less capable and less
interested in pushing out the space fron-
tier and focusing more on eliminating risk
and looking for absolute assurance that
some¬thing can be done before commit-
ting to do it. This leaves NASA less at-
tractive to the best and brightest of today’s
young professionals.
Over the years, NASA has grown increas-
ingly political. There was a time when per-
sonnel at all levels contributed to success
by freely expressing their completely can-
did opinions on design, testing, operations
and management issues. Management
today seems less and less likely to speak
out because of their concerns about the po-
5
litical repercussions. NASA needs to find
a way to return to the environment where
people contributed to success by freely ex-
pressing what they thought about the issue
being addressed.
NASA has also been subjected to politic
pressure from outside the agency. Exam-
ples: NASA has tried for decades to re-
duce their overhead by reducing the num-
ber of Space Centers they have around the
country. Congress and local politicians
have always won out and saved the one
in their district. NASA is still burdened
with the same 10 Space Centers and a half
dozen other facilities. This reduces the
funds available for science and space ap-
plications. When our military faced a sim-
ilar problem with too many bases spread
around the country, it was resolved when
Congress passed the Base Realignment
and Closure Act of 1990 to screen and
close facilities.
NASA should also be focused more on
their science obligations and avoid any
associated political issues. Goddard Space
Center has been involved in global envi-
ronmental science for many years. For
the past 20 years, instead of just sharing
the climate science data they collect, they
have joined the political argument that hu-
mans are the cause of global warming.
At the United Nations Climate Change
Conference in Lima, Peru, last December,
virtually all of the data available, the pre-
sentations and the handouts in the Amer-
ican Pavilion were material furnished by
NASA. NASA personnel were making the
presentations and the data shown was se-
lected to make the case that humans were
the cause of global warming. The Amer-
ican Pavilion was virtually a NASA pa-
vilion. The space agency compromises its
scientific credibility by participating in the
politics surrounding one of the great sci-
entific hoaxes in history.
To get NASA back to the posture where
they excelled, we should commit once
more to pushing back the space frontier
with a manned landing on Mars. Such a
mission will become much more feasible
when, and if, we overcome the problem of
radiation exposure and/or shorten the time
of travel.
Our Mars exploration vehicle will have
to be assembled in earth orbit. Moving out
of earth orbit will require heavy-lift rock-
ets, like our Space Launch System, and
the Orion deep space crew capsule. As-
sembling an interplanetary spacecraft may
require a reusable launch vehicle similar
Continued on Page 7
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6 PALMDALE BLVD
Never Too Late to Follow Your Dream
By THOMAS FITZGERALD
Staff Writer
Each moment is a gift, which is why the here and now is
called the present, and regardless one’s age (50 is the new
30), never is there a better time than the present to pursue
that long, put-off goal.
Ken Lemm did just this. A content owner of a success-
ful, high-end landscape and design business headquar-
tered in the Southeast, one day, Lemm decided to parlay
his writing acumen and love of literature into his “dream
of screenwriting.”
“Being a writer was always in my blood, but early on
I didn’t understand how that could be a career,” said
Lemm. “I went on to study architecture. It was a business
I could understand.”
Lemm’s landscape architecture and design business is
based in Atlanta, Georgia, and serves clients across the
United States build their dream homes costing in the
multi-million dollar range.
His business designs everything that happens outside
the house itself from swimming pools to driveways, play
areas to landscaping, and fences, walkways and lighting.
“We meet some really fascinating people and it’s always
a treat to learn how they got where they are,” said Lemm.
“That’s a neat human experience.”
Growing up, Lemm’s father served in the US Air Force
and the family relocated often. Though already having
developed an interest in architecture, Lemm’s experience
living in Europe visiting castles and chateaus played a
significant role in furthering his appreciation.
“I drug my parents to chateaus and things in Germa-
ny and France, and I’d come home and try to draw the
footprints afterwards, the floor plans,” said Lemm. “So I
wanted to be an architect.”
The itinerant lifestyle of a military family brought ad-
venture and wonderment, but also resulted in Lemm at-
tending school in eight different states and several for-
eign countries.
Always the new kid in school, he took a special liking
to reading; an enjoyment fueled by a weekly visit from
the “book mobile” – a library on wheels – serving his
neighborhood.
“The year my dad was sent to Vietnam, my mom, me
and my siblings ended up in a brand new suburb in New
Jersey in literally what had been a potato farm,” said
Lemm, about ten years old at the time. “There was noth-
ing. No library. Nothing. But once a week the book mo-
bile would come, and I remember running up the street
and getting my books and returning ones from the week
before. Great experience.”
Reading provided a bit of an escape from the challenges
associated with being the new kid. “You don’t have to be
judged by books,” said Lemm. “They’re just immediately
your friend; they take you along on a journey.”
As a child, Lemm was attracted to stories about how
people affect each other, and how people react when
something happens to them.
Favorites from Lemm’s childhood include Upton Sin-
clair’s, The Jungle – a novel published in 1906. Sinclair,
a journalist, wrote The Jungle to expose the exacting toil
of long hours at labor and the living conditions on immi-
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grants in industrialized cities.
Lemm was also fond of Native Son, written by Ameri-
can author Richard Wright. Native Son is a story about a
young African American man living in the poverty-strick-
en South Side of Chicago during the Great Depression.
“I loved reading about people I knew nothing about,”
said Lemm. “Those real epic sagas that plunged you into
a world you knew nothing about.”
Lemm first became a published author while in elemen-
tary school after his teacher gave students an assignment
to write a short story.
With the internet, modern
times allows a writer to not
have to live in Los Angeles, the
entertainment industry epicen-
ter, to be discovered.
Lemm chose to write about a US military prisoner of
war being held in Vietnam and how important letters from
home were to the man despite the correspondence being
heavily redacted; some letters would arrive with only a
handful of words not having been blacked out.
His teacher thought highly enough of Lemm’s story that
it was forwarded to a literary magazine.
“That’s what gave me the first taste that [writing] was
something I wanted to do at some point,” said Lemm.
The motivation for his story was his father’s return from
duty in Vietnam, “uninjured,” something Lemm said he
was grateful for.
Lemm remembered hearing stories about US service-
men not having the good fortune to return home at all be-
cause they were being held in prisoner of war camps, or,
what the North Vietnamese referred to as prison camps.
“I just imagined what is was like to be away from your
family and cling to whatever little bits of information you
could get,” explained Lemm.
I loved reading about people
I knew nothing about. Those
real epic sagas that plunged
you into a world you knew
nothing about.”
Creativity is as important to writing as it is to landscape
architecture and design, and Lemm’s creativity and imag-
ination was greatly developed and fueled by his being an
avid reader when still a youngster.
As a young adult, Lemm attended and graduated from
Virginia Tech where he studied architecture and was
drawn to landscape architectural design.
“Fortunately, in my other career being a landscape archi-
tect, creativity has always been something that I’m able
to spend my time with” said Lemm. “Yeah, I think that
translated into having a big imagination for writing also.”
It was about ten years ago when Lemm decided to dedi-
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cate himself to using his spare time toward learning all he
could about screenwriting.
This occurred when his landscape architect business be-
came profitable enough to permit him ample free time to
pursue the venture.
Lemm’s wrote his first script while teaching himself
how to become a screenwriter by, “using some programs
and reading every book I could get my hands on.”
During this time, he said he “stumbled upon a contest”
sponsored by an organization called the Writers Store, lo-
cated in Burbank, California.
Writers were provided a “logline” – a once sentence de-
scription of a story – with no genre restrictions and asked
to write the first 15 pages of a script based on that logline.
Naturally, each writer imagined a unique set of circum-
stances and submissions ran the gamut from drama to
horror to comedy, and everything in between.
Out of over 1,000 entries, Lemm’s script finished in
the top ten, which earned him the chance to work with a
professional screenwriter for the next ten weeks with the
goal of turning 15 pages into a full script – approximately
100 pages – by writing ten pages each week.
The itinerant lifestyle of a mil-
itary family brought adven-
ture and wonderment, but also
resulted in Lemm attending
school in eight different states
and several foreign countries.
The assigned logline was about a spy learning he had
a daughter he didn’t know he fathered, so Lemm wrote
about a seasoned spy being forced into retirement who,
for his final mission, was assigned to southern France
where he discovers he has a daughter.
Lemm’s script was titled, Drum, after the main charac-
ter, spy Mitchell Drummond – Codename: Drum – and
it went on to win two dozen awards at film festivals and
screenplay competitions.
“For a brand new writer, that was a real confidence
booster,” said Lemm.
With the internet, modern times allows a writer to not
have to live in Los Angeles, the entertainment industry
epicenter, to be discovered.
The next step for the aspiring screenwriter was to join
an industry website called InkTip – a one-stop shop for
producers to review scripts when looking for a specific
project – where he has been posting finished scripts for
the past eight years.
His first InkTip success was with a short screenplay
titled, These Foolish Things, which was discovered by
Austin Haley and producer/director Bobby Curnutt.
These Foolish Things was purchased and plans for
shooting the film in Birmingham, Alabama, began almost
immediately.
With Birmingham just a couple of hours away from his
home, Lemm was able to be on set for the filming.
“In addition to getting to work with some amazing film-
makers and actors, I gained invaluable experience into
all the aspects of filming,” said Lemm. “Ever since, I’ve
Continued on Page 7

Never Too Late to Follow Your Dream
Continued From Page 6
taken every opportunity I could to be on
set for at least part of the filming process.”
One important lesson learned by being
on set was gaining a greater understand-
ing of the nexus between dialogue and the
actor delivering it.
“One fascinating thing was listening to
the actors take my dialogue and not neces-
sarily change it, but express it in their own
way,” said Lemm. “I’ve incorporated a lot
of that learning into my dialogue.”
Another valuable lesson learned was un-
derstanding how best to make the decision
on whether a scene can be filmed indoors
instead of outside, or during daylight
hours versus nighttime.
These seemingly small details loom large
when the film’s financing is considered to
be, “lower budget.”
“Because every scene is just a way to get
information to the viewers, and the cost
difference between doing interior/exteri-
or or daytime/nighttime, all those things
add up very quickly,” said Lemm. “So as
you’re writing, you’re looking at every
single scene, saying, ‘How can I get this
information in the most interesting way
and the most economical?’”
Lemm’s first feature film, A Horse for
Summer, was financed through crowd-
funding and was filmed in Arizona over a
two week period.
A Horse for Summer is about a rebellious
teenage girl growing up in a tough, inner
city neighborhood and who moves to live
with her uncle at his farm in Arizona after
her mother is incarcerated – a big change
in lifestyle for both the uncle and his niece.
Budget restrictions required the story be-
gin with the girl’s arrival in Arizona and
the audience learning of the circumstanc-
es bringing her there through dialogue.
Lemm prefers writing “family and
faith-friendly” scripts and inspirational
stories where people overcome obstacles
in life – the same genre of film he enjoys
watching himself – and said he is not a big
fan of action films and murder movies.
Today, Lemm credits his ability to find
time to write because his landscape de-
sign business is able to run smoothly on
a day-to-day basis absent his daily, direct
supervision.
“Though I go to the office every day
and I’m accessible to my staff, I prob-
ably steal about four hours during the
workday to write, and then nights and
weekends,” explained Lemm, who added
he is never more than a foot away from
a tape recorder or note pad to jot down a
fleeting thought or idea. “When you’re a
screenwriter, your characters and bits of
dialogue are just constantly popping up in
your head. I’m writing all the time, actu-
MAY 2018
ally. The thing I really need to figure out is
how to be able to take notes in the show-
er, because that’s when the absolute best
ideas come.”
Lemm said he has no regrets about be-
coming a screenwriter later in life and
credits life experiences and people he’s
met with inspiring his screenplay writing.
Lemm has two films scheduled for re-
lease in June – Running From My Roots
and Save This Dance.
Running From My Roots is a country mu-
sic themed movie about a young woman –
played by 2013 American Idol contestant
and fifth place finisher, Janelle Arthur.
Lemm prefers writ-
ing “family and
faith-friendly” scripts
and inspirational sto-
ries where people
overcome obstacles
in life – the same
genre of film he en-
joys watching himself
– and said he is not a
big fan of action films
and murder movies.
The film is about a country music star
who moves back to her hometown to re-
group and self-reflect after “a little bit of a
fall from Grace.”
Save This Dance is a “writer-for-hire as-
signment” Lemm picked up after being
contacted by a producer with an idea.
The script underwent three major changes
between start and completion. It first was a
story about Valentine’s Day, then switched
to being about high school sweethearts
separated for 20 years before reuniting,
and then to the final story about a dancer
who comes home to her small town to help
save her mother’s dance studio.
“The good news was the characters and
the main things that drew them to each
other and happened to them stayed the
same,” said Lemm.
Though having written “spec scripts” – a
writer’s vision, idea and story they want
to tell – Lemm said he enjoys taking on
writer-for-hire assignment and considers
them lower risk than pitching a unique
story idea.
Sometimes You
Can’t Wait For Your
Ship To Come In;
You Have To Swim
Out and Get It.
- Steve Sutherland
“That’s how I started (spec scripts),”
said Lemm. “But it’s like a builder build-
ing a spec house; you’re always running
the risk someone won’t want the product
you’re creating. It’s very rewarding to get
these writer-for-hire assignments because
you have a client with a definite desire and
need you’re filling. The gamble or the risk
of writing something on spec that no one
may ever be interested in is removed from
that equation.”
Each screenplay Lemm creates is sub-
mitted to the Dove Foundation, an organi-
zation which reviews films and scripts for
suitability for family viewing.
All his projects to date have earned the
highest ratings from the group.
Lemm’s advice to writers is threefold.
First, nothing compares to taking your ca-
reer into your own hands because nobody
will work as hard for you as you will for
yourself.
Secondly, never trust your memory or
waste an idea.
When an idea comes or inspiration is
sparked at an inopportune moment, send
yourself a voice mail, jot it on the back of
a sales receipt, and always keep a pad by
the bed because the next great screenplay
might result from what seems like a fleet-
ing thought or tiniest idea.
And most importantly, “It’s never too
late to follow your dreams,” said Lemm.
“I know that sounds like a cliché but I’m
definitely someone who had this dream
always in the back of my mind, but put it
aside to build a business. When the time
was right, I was able to get back in the
groove of following the dream.”
When Ken isn’t writing or running his
landscape architecture design firm, he ac-
tively supports several pet rescue organi-
zations.
He currently has two rescue Boxers of
his own, Cody and Roxy.
His passion for animal rescue led him to
write a feature length holiday film titled,
The Twelve Strays of Christmas.
The screenplay is currently under option
to a producer in England and hopefully
will be filmed for the 2018 holiday season.
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U.S. Human Exploration
Continued From Page 5
to the space shuttle. While these are all ex-
pensive, they will be essential if we want
to move out of earth orbit.
We could also explore the possibility of
moving the ISS from 51.6° down to an or-
bital inclination where it could be/might
be useful in constructing an interplanetary
spacecraft and/or as a departure point for
Mars. With a national commitment for
Mars exploration our space agency’s bud-
get and activities would be driven by this
strategy. The timing, of course, would be
controlled by the rate at which Congress
funds the program. If addressed in the way
we addressed a manned landing on the
Moon, it would enable NASA to deal with
many of the internal deficiencies that have
developed over time.
Any Mars exploration program will have
international partners. If it is our American
program, we should take a strong leader-
ship approach in managing that program.
With Apollo, the effort was clearly led by
NASA. In a Mars program we should ob-
viously lead the way and not just be one
more partner in an international effort to go
to Mars. Hopefully, it would have less pol-
itics and a better structure then the interna-
tional program we formed around the ISS.
The ISS, that NASA first began to work on
in the 1970s, is probably the most impres-
sive piece of space hardware ever placed in
orbit. It has had “equal” partners from the
beginning, even though more than 70% of
the cost has been paid by the U.S.
In 1993, after NASA had evaluated and
rejected what Russia might contribute to
our ISS program, President Clinton insist-
ed that Russia be included as a full partner.
ISS was a convenient way for America to
bail out the nearly bankrupt Russian space
program. Our administration claimed
that we would lift off two years earlier, it
would save us $2B and it would keep Rus-
sian scientists from working on nuclear
development for other countries.
Reality: After transferring $3-5B to help
resurrect the Russian space industry we
launched two years late. The cost to us
was increased by $15-$20 billion, due pri-
marily to changing the orbital inclination
from 28.5° to 51.6° in order to accommo-
date the Russian launch capability. We are
now totally dependent on Russia to get an
American to and from the ISS—a program
we gave birth to in the 1970s.
In the Apollo Program we were totally
dependent on private industry. And they
delivered! As NASA has grown less entre-
preneurial, less efficient and more bureau-
cratic over the years, it has inspired new,
so-called commercial space companies.
While most of these new companies have
been subsidized by Government funding
NASA has less control over their devel-
opment, operations and, consequently, the
Continued on Page 8
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outcome. Space exploration is far too expensive for private industry without govern-
ment capital. Commercial companies have a different perspective on space exploration
and operations. Commercial companies are driven by profit and return on investment.
Pushing back the frontier of space does not satisfy the business case for either of these
criteria. Government space agencies are not profit driven. Our government underwrites
the exploration of space and government agencies develop and manage the technology.
Our country’s return on investment is the technology developed to open that next fron-
tier and the commercialization of that technology in private industry.
Some people suggest that private space companies should collaborate with NASA for
human missions beyond low Earth orbit. Collaboration means sharing the cost. Com-
mercial companies will contract with NASA for the hardware and technology but the
government will always be expected to pay the cost of exploring the next frontier—
funded by tax dollars, of course. Since commercial companies move much faster than
government agencies, production by private industry will shorten the timeline to launch
a mission to Mars. In the absence of a Mars Exploration Program and limited funding,
NASA has initiated the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM). Today, ARM is character-
ized as a first step in the mission to Mars. This could be fascinating for some scientists
but anything it might do to support a future Mars mission could be more efficiently
done with other projects. The Japanese landed an unmanned satellite on an asteroid and
returned with a surface sample 5 years ago. If ARM is funded, it should be an unmanned
science mission, NOT a manned mission. Limited manned exploration funds should not
be wasted on such missions.
There are manned missions we should be planning in preparation for a manned landing
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on Mars. While we work on overcoming the problems of radiation exposure and learn-
ing how to speed up travel, we should return to the Moon where we can perfect a crew
facility for semi-permanent living. It is critical that we learn how to keep crews alive
on Mars for months or even years. Crews on the Moon are only four days away from
home as opposed to months and even years on a Mars mission. Many scientists today
are saying, “Send robots to Mars because humans are too costly and it’s too dangerous.”
NASA should continue to mix manned and unmanned missions in order to exploit both.
Robots can assess risks to human exploration, determine the presence of environmental,
chemical, or biological problems and help to mitigate the risks. Robots are valuable
tools in preparing for exploration but they are greatly inferior to humans in terms of
speed, grasping what has been observed and judging what to do next. Humans are much,
much faster and more efficient because we can think and act in real time.
The Apollo program cost $110 billion in today’s dollars and the benefits to our society
have been priceless. A manned landing on Mars, after 50 years of technical progress and
spaceflight experience and perfecting a crew facility on the Moon, will probably take
twice as long and cost 2 to 3 times that amount. That is a fraction of what our annual
federal budget deficit has been running and deficits do not have a return.
A century from now, no one will care how carefully and cautiously we may have
survived the 21st century, but they would certainly celebrate our willingness to make
a commitment, to accept the risk, to expand our universe and to change the way we
perceived our world if we commit to land a man on Mars. We will not move our society
ahead by eliminating risk. Exploration is not about eliminating risk; it’s about managing
risk! The human desire to explore and settle new frontiers will be satisfied—if not by
Americans, then by others. Humans, somewhere, will certainly go back to the Moon and
on to Mars. I believe we have the resources and the technology for manned exploration
of Mars! Do we have the will to tackle the next frontier—Mars?