Jul 20, 2021 11:36AM trishyla wrote:

Jack Black was my sister in law, Terry's roommate at UCLA. She said he was a really sweet, funny guy, and was thrilled when he started making it.

Even though I'm not a huge fan of his kind of comedy, we still make a point to go see everything he does, just to support Terry's friend.

Cool to hear about his mom. I wonder if Terry knew that when they were in college? Being a huge feminist herself I think it would made her like him even more.

Jul 20, 2021 03:59PM - edited Jul 20, 2021 04:10PM by divinemrsm

I had to look up the story above about Judith Love Cohen to verify its validity and find it is partially true. What I learned:

Yes, she was an engineer who did work on the guidance computer for the Abort-Guidance System which brought Apollo 13 astronauts home safely! Judy was there when the astronauts paid a "thank you" to the TRW facility in Redondo Beach.

[Side note: Judith said that she went through both her BS and MS programs at USC without ever meeting another female engineering student. She received both bachelor's and master's degrees from USC Viterbi School of Engineering, in 1957 and 1962.]

Yep, Judith is Jack Black's mom! But according to Wikipedia, he was born August 28, 1969. The Apollo 13 flight was April 11-17, 1970. So the part about “woman gives birth while saving three astronauts" is not true.

Doesn't matter, her accomplishments are impressive!

I love Jack Black. His “School of Rock" is one of my very favorite movies; ds was teenager-ish when the movie came out and we shared many laughs watching it numerous times. I also loved JB in King Kong. And the last movie I saw in theaters was Jumanji 2: The Next Level; JB co-starred. Went to lunch/movie to celebrate dh and ds's birthday in January, 2020.....not knowing pandemic was around the corner. Ds's girlfriend didn't care for Jack Black before the movie but he was sooo good, she came out a fan! Myself, I fell in love with Dwayne “The Rock" Johnson's high cheekbones! Lol. It was a fun movie.

Jul 20, 2021 06:18PM akmom wrote:

Ilove this thread, thanks for starting it.

Jul 21, 2021 09:24AM - edited Jul 21, 2021 09:26AM by divinemrsm

ARmom, I never knew about Katherine Wright! After reading your post, I looked up more information about her because I've seen a few Drunk History episodes, it can be fun to watch but I know how they embellish facts.

Here's what I learned:

Katherine was the youngest of the 5 Wright siblings and only girl; their mother died when she was about 15. Household duties fell to her. During the years that Wilbur and Orville traveled to Kitty Hawk, Katharine had watched over the bicycle shop. After the Wright Bros. airplane success, journalists began to "speculate on her role in the development of the airplane. Rumors spread that she sewed the wings, loaned her brothers money, even did the complex mathematics they required to design their aircraft. None of it was true". [link to article: https://www.wright-brothers.org/Information_Desk/J...] I read several other articles to confirm this and I'd say the claim that Katherine "researched, translated books from German, and completely changed the brothers' plans for their plane" is false.

Orville and Wilbur were painfully shy, Katherine was outgoing and charmed the public. The 3 Wrights went to Europe in 1907 to sell their invention abroad, and the responsibilities of Katharine's unofficial position increased. She answered queries for scientific information, corresponded with newspapers and magazines trying to keep their stories straight, screened business offers and politely handled cranks. When Webster's Dictionary asked to publish a photo of the Wright Glider, she obtained her brothers' permission for them. [All this she accomplished while continuing to teach at Steele High School.] When the Wrights left France, the French awarded all three of them – Katharine included – the Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur (Legion of Honor). She remains one of the few American women to have received this award. (info taken from above website link). She was also the 3rd woman to fly in an airplane.

Over the years, Wilbur and the siblings' father died leaving Orville massively dependent on Katherine. In her 50s, she married a man she'd met in college years ago whom she'd always kept in touch with and moved to Kansas. Orville basically disowned her and they did not speak for several years until she was on her deathbed. Her other brother Lorin, who approved of Katherine's marriage, insisted Orville go see her which he did the day before she passed. The year was 1929. Despite the rift between her and Orville, Katherine was happy in her marriage.

Katherine attended Oberlin College in Ohio. After her death, her husband Harry gave a bequest to the college to construct an exact copy of of the Fountain of Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, which included a sculpture representing love and wisdom.

Now having heard of Katherine Wright and reading up about her, I think the city of Dayton should have a sculpture made in her honor! People need to know about her contributions to the Birth of Aviation!!!!!!!!!

Jul 21, 2021 10:40AM serenitystat wrote:

Divine - I'm glad you were able to have a relationship with your parents. I was willing when I was younger especially after my kids were born. But my father is a remarkably bottomless pit of new strife. My mother on her own is fine, but we are not friends. I no longer feel the obligation to be the dutiful daughter. The past is over. Instead I focused on being a better parent to my own children to break the cycle. It helps that my husband is an incredible father. I love my little family unit.