Famed Storyteller Tells the NASA Story With “Forged in the Stars” Oct. 22 at WC

Professional storyteller Jay O’Callahan shares his NASA-inspired “Forged in the Stars” at Washington College on Thursday evening, October 22, at 7:30 p.m. in Hotchkiss Recital Hall, Gibson Center for the Arts. The event is free and open to the public, with seating offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

“Forged in the Stars” was conceived after NASA commissioned O’Callahan to create a story to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2008. After two years of research and interviews with astronauts, engineers and other NASA employees, he wrote a work that distills the risks and wonders of space exploration in the stories of three prominent personalities—J.C. High Eagle, a NASA engineer of Cherokee Indian heritage whose childhood dream was to help men land on the moon; astronaut Neil Armstrong, who in a 1969 Apollo mission became the first person to set foot on the moon; and New Hampshire teacher Christa McAuliffe, who died in the space shuttle Challenger disaster.

O’Callahan’s performance also explores the wondrous journey of the twin Voyager spacecraft, which was launched in 1977 with the goal of investigating Jupiter and Saturn and is still venturing into unexplored realms today.

O’Callahan has performed “Forged in the Stars” for NASA employees and at numerous venues around the country, including Harvard University and MIT. His appearance at Washington College is sponsored by the William James Forum and the Department of Philosophy and Religion.