Message-Id: <2.2.16.19961222222833.294fe1fc@mail.sdsu.edu>
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Date: Sun, 22 Dec 1996 14:28:33 -0800
To: socgrad@csf.colorado.edu
From: Joe Surfer <vigil@mail.sdsu.edu>
Subject: Re: Ave Atque vale, frater: Essay in Honor of Carl Sagan
At 05:22 AM 12/22/96 EST, you wrote:
>Carl Sagan died Friday.  Saturday evening, A&E presented his biography.

I have a story about Carl Sagan. I heard it on the radio, KFI 640 AM for
those of you in the 14 Western United States.

This guy called in who was the member of a fraternity. Their house was in a
canyon in a very secluded area. They of course being frat boys liked to
throw drunken parties and make a lot of noise. A couple of times they got
complaints from a neighbor via the police.

They found out believe it or not, that their neighbor up the canyon was Carl
Sagan. So they figured the best way to get him on their good side was to
invite him to their next function. They had this big afternoon BBQ (I'm sure
they had grilled vegetables for those that don't like charred animal
flesh...) and they sent an invitation up the road to Carl Sagan's house.

They got a written reply back:

"Thank you for your invitation. If you wish for Dr. Sagan to make an
appearance at your function, be aware that his speaking fee is $5,000, in
advance."

Ok, maybe the caller made it up but it was funny at the time. I remember
Sagan's PBS specials. I watched them if for the special effects alone. Star
Trek the Next Generation hadn't come out, so those galaxy fly-bys in Cosmos
were the best things available. My mom gave me Sagan's last book "Demon
Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark" for my birthday. Haven't
read it yet, any comments if anybody else has read it?


JV
*************************************************
        To tolerate everything is to teach nothing.