New Book Reflects on Memories of Apollo 11, Influence of the Apollo Generation

Eva Abreu has some pretty lofty goals. She's set her sights on July 31, 2009 as the updated release date for her first book, "Reaching for the Moon and the Stars: The Legacy and Influence of the Apollo Generation," to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 space mission when man landed on the moon.

"I've had this book idea swirling around inside of me for quite some time now," said Abreu. On Sunday, June 14th, she decided it was finally time to move forward and actually write it. That meant she had only one and a half months to research, outline, write and self-publish her first book, starting with nothing but an idea and an inspiration.

"A lot of different factors came together at the same time to compel me to move forward with the idea of writing this book," Abreu said. "the major inspiration being my father." She explained that Father's Day was approaching and within the same week, she saw on the news about the upcoming 40th Anniversary of Apollo 11. She recalls her father had seen the Apollo 11 lift-off in person and remembers looking through the family photo album at some pictures of the rocket launch at Cape Canaveral. "Then it hit me," recalls Abreu, "I realized I never got the full story about his involvement with Apollo 11." Abreu decided it was time to ask him for all the details, while he was still in good health and of sound mind, so that she could document it for her children and be able to tell the story behind the pictures.

She spoke to him that weekend and learned that he was responsible for testing a remote sensor part, manufactured by a small engineering firm in New Jersey, which was used on the Apollo 11 mission. For the work that they did, the company received a special invitation from NASA to watch the July 16th lift-off at Cape Canaveral and his manager choose him to be the company representative. Abreu recalls, "I was six years old at the time and remember being sad that my father was going away on an overnight trip, but when he got back, he showed us pictures that he took of the lunar module, the rocket blasting off and the crowds. Now, we're in the process of scanning the old photos to include in my book."

There are other similar stories of regular everyday folks who played a part in the historic Apollo mission. "Over 300,000 people were involved in some capacity on this mission, covering every state in the nation and across all sectors of industries, education and government." said Abreu. "The book will include a collection of childhood memories, untold stories, unsung heroes and dreams fulfilled during that particular time in the history of the United States."

She is also looking for stories from anyone who remembers watching that great moment on television. "Several people I've interviewed so far have talked about how, as a child, watching the televised space missions had influenced their future careers and interests in such areas as computers, engineering, science and astronomy" Abreu said.

In the first round of interviews, she noticed a common theme among children of the Apollo generation, who are now in their mid-40's to 50's. They now realize how their parents, or even grandparents, had a strong commitment back then to teach and pass along the significance of sending a man to the moon. Rick Wolff, a graphic designer who lived in Westchester County, New York at the time, recalls how his grandfather took him aside on the day after the moon landing. While standing in their driveway and pointing up to the moon, the grandfather said to him, 'See that up there? There were guys walking around up there!' As a young boy, he wasn't quite sure what his grandfather was trying to tell him, but he could tell that it was something important, but couldn't find the right words to express. Looking back now, he understands it was the legacy that his grandfather wanted to pass along to his grandson, and hopefully, to be able to pass along to future generations to come.

As a Social Media consultant based in Piscataway, New Jersey, Abreu has applied her knowledge of making connections through networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, to help her find the right resources to complete her book, including Wolff, whom she commissioned to design the book cover. She's also connected with Apollo experts, engineers, and space enthusiasts around the world who have responded to her request for interviews after reading her "tweets" and Facebook wall postings.

A Twitter connection led to futurist Rod Pitman of Portland, Oregon. Pitman shared his vision and knowledge of transmedia storytelling, which in turn inspired Abreu to expand her idea beyond an initial book release to include other ways for people to share their legacy stories, including podcasts, audio CDs, DVDs and even a film documentary. "As I'm working on getting the interviews and research done, I'm also looking at ways to use the information collected for various different audio and video projects" said Abreu.

However, with reverence to Neil Armstrong, the first astronaut to set foot on the moon, she realizes the importance of taking 'one small step' at a time and the need to focus on finishing the book first. "Since this is my first venture in writing and self-publishing a book," Abreu explains "the learning curve is pretty steep, but I look to the inspiration of the Apollo generation, including my dad, who were all a part of an amazing time period; they actually created reality by having a whole nation focused on a single collective vision: The Moon. I hope to do the same, on a much smaller scale of course, of seeing the reality of my book published so the stories and legacy can be passed along to future generations. To create this reality, I'll need the help of many different people — with the focus on a single collective vision: To tell the stories about reaching the moon, as told by real-life 'stars' of the Apollo era."

To contact Eva Abreu to share your memories of Apollo 11 for possible inclusion in her upcoming book, or for consideration for future editions or audio-video projects, please call toll-free 1-877-708-0884, or email: eva@evaabreu.com or mail to: 1308 Centennial Ave, Suite 407, Piscataway, NJ 08854