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David Frohman and astronaut Eugene A. Cernan create the historic limited-edition
manuscript print entitled "The Last Words Ever Spoken ..."
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Summer, 2009
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Ten years ago on July 20, 1999, David Frohman and his firm, Peachstate Historical Consulting, Inc.,
created a one-of-a-kind limited-edition manuscript print entitled "The First Words Ever Spoken". By way of background, Dr. Buzz Aldrin transmitted the first words ever spoken by a man on the Moon back to Earth on July 20, 1969 as Apollo 11 landed, when he said "Contact Light, OK, Engine Stop". A moment later, Apollo 11 CAPCOM (and later Apollo 16 Moonwalker) General Charles M. Duke, Jr. transmitted his response from Houston as he replied " We Copy You Down, Eagle". This exchange respectively became the first words ever transmitted by a man on the Moon to Earth, followed by the first words ever transmitted by man on Earth back to the Moon! On the evening of July 20, 1999 and literally within mere hours of the 30th anniversary of Buzz Aldrin actually speaking those historic words on the Moon, Aldrin inscribed them by hand in Washington, D.C. on 99 copies of a 16 x 20 inch portrait of him saluting the flag on the Moon. Then, on July 23, 1999 as the anniversary continued, General Charles M. Duke, Jr. inscribed his historic reply back to the Moon directly below Aldrins, thus completing the unique and historic edition. David Frohman thus achieved the creation of the first limited-edition manuscript print containing the handwritten quotes of the first words ever spoken from the Moon to the Earth, followed in sequence on the same document by the first words ever spoken from the Earth back to the Moon! During the course of Frohman's work with astronaut Gene Cernan during the summer of 2009, he saw the chance to create another unique and historic manuscript print for his clientele. Gene Cernan was the last man to walk on the Moon, and as such also spoke man's final historic words on it as well. Cernan's final words on the Moon were "And as we leave the Moon at Taurus-Littrow, we leave as we came ... And God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind". Over the years, Cernan has traditionally avoided inscribing the historic quote. However, as a personal favor to Frohman and his firm, Cernan agreed to participate in the creation of the first limited-edition manuscript whereas he would inscribe the entire quote by hand during 2009. Frohman, in-turn, saw this as a logical extension and completion to the "First Words ..." project that he created exactly ten years earlier in July, 1999. Only 50 copies of "The Last Words Ever Spoken ..." were created, of which 45 examples were collector copies and five examples were astronaut proofs. David Frohman then presented Cernan with a portion of both the astronaut proofs and nine collector copies as gifts for the Cernan family. This left only 36 copies for sale to collectors at an original issue price of $575.00 per copy, many of which have since been acquired by museums and collectors. |
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