APRIL 2023

George Raveling & Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr

- Crossing Paths at the March on Washington -

By Rev Protodeacon George A. Haloulakos

Each year the first week of April brings to a conclusion the annual NCAA Basketball Tournament (aka March Madness) while also marking the anniversary of the assassination of the Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr.  Interestingly enough, as we reflect on the amazing life and ministry of the Rev Dr King, we find there is a unique connection with collegiate basketball in the person of Hall of Fame coach George Raveling.  Therefore, recounting the story behind the life paths of a pioneering basketball coach and a Nobel Prize winning Civil Rights leader intersecting at a unique moment in history is especially timely during the first week of April.

In August 1963, several days before the March on Washington, Raveling was having dinner at a friend's home in Claymont, DE.  The father of Raveling's friend, encouraged both young men to attend the upcoming event while providing them travel money and the use of one of his cars to drive to Washington, DC.  Upon their arrival, Raveling and his friend volunteered to serve as security guards thereby ending up standing a few feet away from the Rev Dr King on the podium at the Lincoln Memorial.  As Rev Dr King was nearing the close of his historic speech, the famed Gospel singer Mahalia Jackson was heard in the background saying "tell 'em about the dream, Martin, tell 'em about the dream."  Ms Jackson was familiar with this theme as she had heard King talk about this in his previous speeches at Selma and Detroit.  At this point, in a moment of inspiration, Rev Dr King went off script -- (i.e., the "I Have A Dream" passage is NOT in the original typewritten hard copy of the speech he had in his hands when speaking at the Lincoln Memorial) -- by ad-libbing the "I Have A Dream" part because he realized his prepared remarks were not fully rising to the spirit of the occasion.  This spontaneous addition was the signature portion of a magnificent speech.  As Rev Dr King took the papers with his prepared remarks from the podium, he came face to face with Mr Raveling, who asked him "Dr King, can I have that?"  King handed the speech to Raveling just moments before a throng of people came between the two men.  Raveling folded up the papers and kept them on his person as the March on Washington concluded.

It should be noted that several hundred copies of King's prepared speech had been distributed to reporters, but ALL of these copies -- except for the one King himself had at the podium and then gave to Raveling -- had an official stamp.  The only markings on this document are the underline and asterisk Raveling later inserted to indicate where King had deviated from his prepared remarks.

In the decades that have followed, Mr Raveling has had a wonderful life and career in mentoring others through a Hall of Fame basketball coaching career.  When sharing his remembrance of this amazing moment in time, Raveling is humbled to be the keeper of such a precious document.  He continues to help others prepare for life by teaching them to be ready for the right moment that can come at any time!  The pursuit of the Dream expressed by Rev Dr King continues through the life and works of George Raveling and reminds all of us to always strive to be at our personal best.

 MARCH 2023

TIME TRAVEL via "Star Trek"

- Remembering Favorite Journeys In Time -

By George A. Haloulakos

This month we talk about a perennially interesting topic - Time Travel!  The concept of Time Travel has been a recurring theme in literature, film and television that goes back nearly two centuries.  For example, Charles Dickens used Time Travel via the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future in his classic morality tale "A Christmas Carol" published in 1843.   In 1895, H.G. Wells wrote a science fiction novel, "The Time Machine," that was later made into a full length motion picture (1960) to be followed by several remakes.  Time Travel has been adapted by lots of TV shows and made-for-TV movies, but perhaps the most successful franchise to employ Time Travel has been the "Star Trek" franchise in all its variants for more than 50 years.  The various "Star Trek" series and movies have all used Time Travel to various degrees, and often with critical success.  A good number of these plotlines seem to involve very dramatic, major historic events, often incorporating noteworthy heroes and heroines from recorded history.  In each case that was related to a major historic event or public figure, the Time Travel theme is used by the "Star Trek" characters to save humanity or perhaps the galaxy!   No doubt many of you in our GNN audience have your own favorites, and so we invite you to please share it with us by either posting to the GNN FACEBOOK page (and "liking" us when doing so) or send it directly to the Galaxy Nostalgia Network at:  GalaxyMoonbeamNightSite@gmail.com

When submitting your favorite Time Travel themed "Star Trek" episode or movie, be sure to include your reason or reasons for doing so.  This is a fun topic for people of all ages, backgrounds and with various interests.  My personal favorite Time Travel "Star Trek" episode is "Timeless" - the 100th episode of the "Star Trek - Voyager" series (with an original air date of November 18, 1998).  My reason for this choice is that it is one of the few Time Travel themed episodes that did not involve a major historic event but was far more personal in nature.  "Star Trek" in all of its variants exhibited its greatest attribute when it highlighted strength of character.  In this particular episode it begins fifteen years in the future where First Officer Chakotay and Operations Officer Harry Kim discover their spaceship Voyager frozen in ice following a crash landing in which all crew members aboard were killed on impact.  The only survivors, Chakotay and Kim, avoided the disastrous accident because they were piloting a small scoutcraft leading the larger spaceship (Voyager) using slipstream quantum technology in an attempt to return to Earth in a matter of moments rather than decades.  The slipstream technology was unstable, and this resulted in the scoutcraft reaching Earth safely but leaving Voyager behind to spiral out of control and crashing on the aforementioned ice planet.

The crash sequence along with Chakotay and Kim recovering the remains of the crew fifteen years later are truly haunting.  Chakotay and Kim have returned to recover the body of Seven of Nine, a Borg drone with technology able to receive messages from the future.  Using a stolen Borg temporal transmitter, Chakotay and Kim hope to send a message back in time to avoid the accident that killed all of their crewmates.  Aided by Voyager's holographic medical doctor (who is activated by a mobile emitter recovered from the crash site) and Chakotay's girlfriend, Tess, they send a message back in time using Kim's new instructions aimed to help Voyager safely reach Earth, but this has no effect in correcting the quantum slipstream and Voyager is destroyed a second time!  Kim's follow-up attempt, this time using new instructions designed to cause the slipstream to fail prematurely so that Voyager will simply power down and not crash, is successful and tragedy is avoided.  The entire Voyager crew along with Chakotay and Kim, return safely to normal space, unharmed, and ten years closer to home (in what is a 75-year journey).

What makes this a compelling story is how Kim deals with survivor guilt in trying to make things right.  While Chakotay has seemingly moved on with his life, his girlfriend Tess -- knowing full well that if they are successful, the timeline in which she and Chakotay meet and fall in love, will be erased -- provides him the encouragement to do whatever is necessary to reverse Voyager's disastrous accident because she knows Chakotay's heart will always be with his beloved crewmates!  This selfless act of love is both inspiring and sad because it is evident that Chakotay and Tess are a strong couple who realize they have truly shared a very special moment in time.  Finally, when the timeline is restored, Kim learns his future self sent to his past self an encoded message along with the operational instructions directed to Seven of Nine.  As Kim watches the message from his future self on the viewscreen, his facial expression imparts a poignancy as he realizes the enormity of his actions in the alternate timeline.  The result is a significant increase in self-confidence and respect that Harry Kim had not yet experienced in his career, thereby giving him a renewed sense of purpose and hope.

While any story concerning Time Travel raises a host of "what-if" questions about how seemingly trivial events and unimportant people can have major impact on the historic timeline, "Timeless" is an episode in which its characters are taking action solely out of love for their comrades and friends that were left behind in a horrific accident.  Chakotay and Kim were willing to risk it all for personal reasons.  In my opinion, this is what makes this Time Travel episode so very special, and ultimately, my favorite in the "Star Trek" franchise.  What is your favorite?  We look forward to hearing from you, our wonderful Galaxy audience!

 FEBRUARY 2023

LOVE OF READING

- How Did It All Begin For You? -

By George A. Haloulakos

This month we reflect upon our love of reading and call for you, our wonderful GNN audience, to share how your love of reading began!  Since the dawn of recorded history -- be it inscribed on stone tablets, papyrus rolls, paper or in digitized form -- love of reading has been associated with an array of benefits that include, but not limited to personal enrichment, academic achievement, upgraded skills in comprehension, writing and spelling, along with stronger motivation and confidence.  Reading opens up our horizons in a manner that can take us on journeys through time and space that are limited only by our imagination.  Reading makes knowledge accessible to anyone who has the desire and curiosity to explore new pathways.  For example, the "Harvard Classics" - a 50 volume collection of the classical works of world literature, important speeches and historical documents -  was created to offer individuals in the comfort of their own home to learn from the greatest minds in recorded history, and in doing so, obtain the equivalent of a four-year baccalaureate liberal arts degree!

Do you enjoy reading?  How did your love of reading unfold for you?  Perhaps it was a parent or other adult role model in your life that read aloud to you during your formative years?  Or was it storytime at your neighborhood library? Maybe it was inspired by viewing a classic film adaptation of a famous novel?  For yours truly, it was a combination of the aforementioned factors plus something else -- Classics Illustrated Comics.  Classics Illustrated was/is an American comic book series that featured very accurate adaptations of literary classics such as Moby Dick, A Tale of Two Cities, The Three Musketeers, Hamlet, et al. These special comic books not only presented the story exactly as in the full length novels, but also included an author profile, related educational supplements and a catalogue of titles in the Classics Illustrated format. Most notably, at the end of every edition, there was an exhortation to the reader that if he or she enjoyed what they just read, to go to their neighborhood library and check out a copy of the written edition.  In doing so, the reader would invariably learn that there was much deeper context and detail that would further enrich the story.  In my case, it not only inspired me to read the full editions, but also seek out other titles by favorite authors.  The love of reading became a lifetime journey that would include visits to bookstores carrying both new and used editions and at an early age, enabled yours truly to have meaningful conversations with the adult role models in my own life.  Interestingly enough, of the original 169 editions of Classics Illustrated produced between 1941-1969, the most represented classic author was one of my favorites, Jules Verne!  There were ten (10) Jules Verne novels adapted by Classics Illustrated that included some lesser known but equally entertaining works.  As you can imagine, it provided further incentive to acquire other titles by the man who is often credited with inventing the future!

What is your story in how you developed a love of reading?  How has that love of reading evolved with the vast advancements in technology such as audio books as well as electronic digital versions?  Please share it with us by either posting to the GNN FACEBOOK page (and "liking" us when doing so) or send it directly to the Galaxy Nostalgia Network at:  GalaxyMoonbeamNightSite@gmail.com