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Title details for The Man Who Painted the Universe by Ron Legro - Available

The Man Who Painted the Universe

The Story of a Planetarium in the Heart of the North Woods

by Ron Legro
Avi Lank
ebook
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As a young boy Frank Kovac Jr. fell deeply in love with stargazing, painting glow-in-the-dark constellations on his bedroom wall and inviting friends to an observatory he built in his Chicago backyard. As he reached adulthood, Kovac did not let go of his childhood dreams of reaching the stars. He began scheming to bring the universe home. While working at a paper mill as a young man, Kovac tirelessly built a 22-foot rotating globe planetarium in the woods. Despite failures and collapses, the amateur astronomer singlehandedly built a North Woods treasure, painting more than 5,000 glowing stars—dot by dot in glowing paints. Today, Kovac and his unique planetarium take visitors to the stars every day.

The Man Who Painted the Universe: The Story of a Planetarium in the Heart of the North Woods introduces readers to the mild-mannered astronomy enthusiast whose creativity, ingenuity, fervor, and endurance realized a dream of galactic proportions. The story of this stargazer from Wisconsin's North Woods so inspired two newspapermen, authors Ron Legro and Avi Lank, that they sought to document the story of the Kovac Planetarium for a new generation of stargazers and dreamers.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    April 15, 2015

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780870207129
      • File size: 10571 KB

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780870207129
      • File size: 10571 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      June 15, 2015

      Milwaukee-based journalists Legro and Lank tell the story of Frank Kovac Jr. and his efforts to build a planetarium in the remote North Woods of Wisconsin. As a child growing up in Chicago, Kovac became enamored with the night sky after looking through his father's telescope. He frequently visited the Adler Planetarium and built a small observatory in his backyard in order to share his love of the stars with friends. As an adult, Kovac moved far from Chicago's abundant light pollution to Monico, WI, and constructed the Mud Creek Observatory to continue sharing his passion with others. Frustrated by frequent cloudy evenings (a common occurrence in the northern part of the state), Kovac felt inspired to erect his own planetarium featuring a 22-foot diameter mechanical globe with the universe painted on its interior. He experienced numerous setbacks along the way and it took him more than a decade to complete the planetarium. However, with patience, resilience, and help from a neighbor, he was able to create something truly special. Today the Frank Kovac Sr. Planetarium (named in honor of his late father) is considered an icon of the North Woods. VERDICT This quick and compelling read is recommended for anyone interested in an inspiring story about one man's perseverance.--Dave Pugl, Ela Area P.L., Lake Zurich, IL

      Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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