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Permalink Reply by Mike White on May 18, 2022 at 8:23pm

His secretary/administrative assistant was a woman by the name of Vivian White (no relation).

She was, as far as I'm aware, generally well-regarded by collectors/enthusiasts for the diligent, yet polite & respectful, way in which she handled her responsibilities. She'd generally respond to mailed questions on his behalf & autograph requests, even after it was known that he was done signing, all got a response as well.

According to this article, I did misremember when she was hired--it was apparently in 1980 when Neil left the university, not the 70s when he left NASA. But I do believe I remember hearing about him having an assistant (or multiple) and a 1 per system while at the university as well.

After Neil passed away, I tracked her down and wrote her to request that she sign a bookplate I sent for my copy of "First Man". It struck me as the best possible surrogate Neil signature for the time period, especially with her being a part of the book herself. She certainly had no obligation to do so, as she owed me nothing & was no longer "on the clock" in Neil's employ, but she signed & returned it without comment.

I feel like I might've heard/seen a few (like a very, very small few) cases who also got an unpersonalized WSS with a standard letter. It's possible I'm misremembering that too. After all this time, a lot of it blurs together. It was certainly a rarity either way.

I do think it's a shame that people do tend to forget how willingly Neil signed in the 70s, 80s, and early 90s. He didn't have to do that. And he certainly didn't have to maintain an office until he died that continued to reply to correspondence & ensure sent items were returned to their owners. 

And with regard to Neil himself, it reminds me a bit of the Rick Nelson song "Garden Party". You have one hit & suddenly everyone expects you to sing it for the rest of your life. It's no secret that he'd prefer to talk about engineering or flying planes than NASA & the moon landing (or be asked for pictures & signatures from people who know him as the guy from the moon landing).

He didn't want fame, which, by many accounts, is exactly why he ended up with it. From many of the things I've heard, read, and seen, they wanted the first man on the moon to be someone who could carry themselves, and represent the program, with dignity in the face of the media attention during the immediate aftermath and for the rest of their life after.

Of course, I've also read, heard, and seen many things that contradict those things, but it doesn't strike me as particularly far-fetched. Like Harry Potter getting the Sorcerer's Stone from the Mirror of Erised, if you'll pardon my terrible reference.

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