Astronaut's Family Prefers Library Addition
to Statue for a Memorial
A library addition would be better than a statue to honor the memory of astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr., said Shepard's only nephew, David Sherman of Houston.
A Derry, New Hampshire, citizens' group is moving forward with plans to erect a life-size bronze statue to honor the Derry native and first American in space. Shepard died July 21, 1998, at the age of 74.
But Sherman told the Lawrence (Mass.) Eagle-Tribune that Shepard would have preferred an addition to Taylor Library in East Derry, which was built in 1929 with money from Shepard's uncle. When the library first opened, Shepard, then 6 years old, helped move books from the old library.
“It is better to have kids spend time in a library, learning math and science and reading about space, than to build a statue,” Sherman said.
Posted January 11, 1999.
|
