Cult Icons: Carl Edward Sagan (1934 - 1996)

LOVING THE COSMOS BEYOND THAT PALE BLUE DOT

In 1980 I first discovered Carl Sagan through his ground breaking 13 part documentary series "Cosmos - a personal voyage" and who instantly became a personal hero to this then seventeen year old who spent far too much of his time with his head in the clouds. That Cosmos is still remembered to this day as one of the great television series is in no small part a tribute to its presenter. Here was a man whose passion for his subject and life long work was so palpable and heartfelt you could almost feel it physically.

A few years back, I was wandering around the big city near here, just mooching and browsing around in a backstreet second hand bookstore when, to my delight, I came across the book of the series printed around the same time as the program was first aired. It has pride of place in my bookcase and of all the books I own, I've spent more time reading it than anything else. A wonderful book written by a true visionary who left us far too early.