At 69, he still came across like a kid with a big, mischievous grin. He was a spinner of yarns, a prankster, racing through an active life with a cell phone at one ear and his hand on the controls of some racy vehicle.
Careful not to become trapped in the receding glories of Apollo, Pete Conrad, the third man to set foot on the moon, had kept his life on fast-forward, his focus on the future â?? until he finally ran out of road hurtling up the California coast Thursday on his Harley-Davidson. It would be sentimental claptrap to suggest that, if he had to go, this is the way he would have wanted it. He didn't want to go. As a colleague said yesterday, "He took risks, but he wasn't reckless." He had too much he wanted to do, much of it in concert with his wife and sidekick, Nancy, another high-energy type. There were kids and grandkids, and he had his own aerospace company to run.
Read Full Article »