20 | September | 2024

About the book, The Barber, the Astronaut, and the Golf Ball

Genre: Biography / Golf / Space Travel
Publisher: Stoney Creek Publishing
Pages: 202
Publication Date: September 17, 2024
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In 1971, famed astronaut Alan Shepard returned from the moon and went to get a haircut. Before settling into the barber’s chair in Webster, Texas, near NASA’s Mission Control, Shepard gave his longtime barber and friend, Carlos Villagomez, an autographed golf ball.

During his Apollo 14 moonwalk, Shepard had conducted a world-famous demonstration of gravity by hitting a golf ball in an out-of-this-world sand trap. It took him two tries.

Carlos, a Navy combat veteran and barber for numerous astronauts, says Shepard gave him the ball immediately after he returned to earth and was released from quarantine.
Had Shepard taken a third ball to the moon? And did he give it to his barber as a token of their long friendship?

The debate provides a backdrop for The Barber, The Astronaut, and The Golf Ball, a story of two extraordinary men and their lasting friendship. The book offers a rare glimpse behind the scenes of America’s space program at its pinnacle and shows the ordinary people who supported one of the nation’s most monumental scientific endeavors.

Praise for The Barber, The Astronaut, and The Golf Ball:

It’s perfect!! Barbara and Ed capture Daddy and his long friendship with Carlos. —Laura Shepard, Daughter of Alan Shepard

Brings back the glory days of the U.S. Space Program and the importance of the “little people” who made it happen. We see stern Shepard in a new and admirable light – in Shepard’s high regard for the vast team of dedicated supporters who enabled astronauts to succeed. —Charlie Duke, Apollo Astronaut

Buy, read, and discuss this book:

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About the authors, Barbara Radofsky & Ed Supkis, MD

Barbara Radnofsky and Ed Supkis grew up in the 1960s in the shadow of NASA’s

Manned Spacecraft Center and married in 1982. They have three children and five

grandchildren. The couple —with many other community members — are co-owners of

Brazos Bookstore, an independent bookseller. As children of NASA scientists, Barbara, and Ed had front-row seats to the development of the space program and the community built around it on rural cow pastures near Webster, Texas.

Barbara Radnofsky is a writer, mediator, teacher and lawyer. She’s the author of A Citizen’s Guide to Impeachment, a nonpartisan explanation of U.S. constitutional impeachment history and practice.

Ed Supkis, MD is a board-certified anesthesiologist specializing in cardiac anesthesia. He served as Director of Quality Assurance for the Division of Anesthesiology and as Medical Director of Respiratory Care for the Division of Surgery and Anesthesiology.

Connect with Barbara and Ed:

TWITTER ◆ AMAZON ◆ GOODREADS

Connect with Stoney Creek Publishing

FACEBOOK ◆ INSTAGRAM ◆ X/TWITTER ◆ YOUTUBE ◆ LINKEDIN

My Thoughts

I’m a space junky. More than that, I’m a great fan of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions. I’ve read memoirs of the various astronauts, and devoured Andrew Chaikin’s book A Man on the Moon cover to cover… twice. So when I got the chance to review The Barber, the Astronaut, and the Golf Ball saying yes was a no-brainer.

I was not disappointed. Authors Barbara Radnofsky and Ed Supkis have done a deep dive into history and the interwined stories of Al Shepard, astronaut, and Carlos Villagomez, barber, and the autographed golf ball that may or may not have traveled to the moon and back is the delightful result.

More than addressing the debate about the origins of Villagomez’s prized souvenir, this book gives us an insider’s view of two men, one lauded as a cultural hero, the other who was mostly behind-the-scenes, and the very real friendship they shared.

We don’t celebrate men’s friendship enough, but this book does that. It also humanizes Shepard, a complicated man at best, in a way that other biographies and memoirs haven’t been able to do. The Al Shepard in this book is more than a stereotype, but a dynamic, flawed but still exceptional, human being.

If you love stories about the space program and the Apollo missions, you will love this book. If you enjoy historical anecdotes, you will enjoy this book. And if you like to get to know our cultural heroes as dimensional beings, you will appreciate this book. I know I did.

Goes well with hot dogs and Tang orange drink.