This weekend, television viewers will celebrate the 30th anniversary of Star Gazer, a weekly astronomy short produced by Miami PBS station WPBT. For three decades, the one constant on the show has been the infectious enthusiasm of host Jack Horkheimer.
Horkheimer, the executive director of the Space Transit Planetarium at the Miami Museum of Science, first appeared on WPBT in the early 1970s. His work was so popular that WPBT invited him to do a weekly show. On November 4, 1976, Star Hustler (later changed to Star Gazer) debuted. As its popularity spread, the show was offered for nationwide PBS distribution in 1985.
Fans will recognize Horkheimer’s signoff, “Keep looking up!” So fond of his catchphrase, the Star Gazer has already erected a tombstone with the epitaph: “‘Keep looking up!’ was my life’s admonition. I can do little else in my present position.”
In addition to Star Gazer's 30-year anniversary, the Space Transit Planetarium will celebrate its 40th birthday on the same day.
To read more about Jack Horkheimer, check out William Shoemaker’s "America’s stargazer."