I met a man at our dinner table last night who not only was from Chicago, he also worked at TRW where my husband and I worked for many years in California. That reminded me of the speech I gave at a luncheon about the changing roles of women over the last few decades – changes I’ve personally experienced. Here it is: I hired into this company –now called Northrop Grumman and then called Space Technology Laboratories – for the first time in 1963, the dark ages, as one of my young colleagues likes to say. It was a few months before Oswald killed President Kennedy. Just to set the stage: Only four buildings were on the Space Park campus – the first three research R buildings and an one executive E building. The next year Building S the service building was opened and, we called the room next to the cafeteria the Waitress Dining Room. Now it’s a gift shop. There was: no such thing as a women’s history month and Women of Achievement award, no such thing as a bring … [Read more...]
Hooray to the JWST team
This is the best time I can think of to write about my late husband Bob and his work as a rocket scientist. He began his career working on the development of the US Air Force’s Minuteman III MIRV ballistic missile weapon system, serving as the Manager of Systems Engineering and Test for the Minuteman Program Office in charge of the testing of the weapon system. Other management work included the development of real-time software for the Hard-site Defense system, a US Army development of an operational anti-ballistic missile system. This assignment included almost two years in residence at the Kwajalein atoll engaged in live testing of the radar and software product against live Minuteman III launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base in CA. In his work in aerospace, he served as the Systems Engineering & Integration Manager for the NASA AXAF (Chandra) x-ray telescope spacecraft and Program Manager for the ROCSAT satellite program for the Republic of China on Taiwan, which … [Read more...]
More beautiful words about Bob Sharples
Robert (Bob) Sharples z"l As we are about to celebrate Thanksgiving, it is with deep sadness that I share the news of the passing of Robert Sharples, z"l, beloved husband of Madeline, father of Benjamin (Marissa) Sharples, and Paul z'l, and Eric z'l. Bob and Madeline have been members of our community since the early days of CTJ in Manhattan Beach, and are cherished friends of many. Bob was a true renaissance man; an exceptional aerospace engineer and project manager at Northrup Gruman (TRW) for decades, an avid traveler and student of life. He filled his 83 years with accomplishment, beauty, charm, and worthy achievement. He expressed courage and faith in facing confounding illness over the past year, and seemed to be on the path to a full recovery and a return to his active life. Bob was an engaging and sincere conversationalist, and he brought wisdom and a smile to all encounters. He will be dearly missed by his family, friends, and colleagues. His … [Read more...]
Rest in peace, my darling
Our brilliant Renaissance man, Robert Edwin Sharples, died after a long illness this past Sunday, November 22, 2020. Born on February 4, 1937 in Ridgewood Queens New York, he was eighty-three years old. He moved to California in 1961 and became a resident of Manhattan Beach ten years later. Bob had a long career in aerospace as an engineering manager and proposal manager. He managed numerous very large proposals for Northrop Grumman/TRW, including James Webb, National Polar-Orbiting Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS), and Jupiter Icy-moons Orbiter (JIMO). The sum of the winning bids for the list of proposals he managed is nearly nine billion dollars. He also worked on the development of the US Air Force’s Minuteman III MIRV ballistic missile weapon system, serving as the Manager of Systems Engineering and Test for the Minuteman Program Office in charge of the testing of the weapon system. Other management work included the development of real-time software for the … [Read more...]
Where were you 50 years ago today?
If you are as old as I am you probably remember exactly where you were fifty years ago when you heard the news that President John Kennedy was shot. I'll never forget it. I was working at my first real job as a technical editor for a company called Space Technology Laboratories that became TRW and many years later bought out by Northrop Grumman. I started work there in July 1963 when I was twenty-three years old. At that time, I was still married to my first husband, and we both took the news of President Kennedy's death very hard. We were glued to the television all weekend. We couldn't get enough of the story. Some years later I wrote the following poem, when asked to write in the style of a favorite poet. I chose Frank O'Hara and his poem, The Day Lady Died, about the death of the jazz singer, Billie Holiday. I've posted this poem here before. But, on this fiftieth anniversary of President Kennedy's death I think it's appropriate to post it again. He's been forever in my … [Read more...]
Happy 75th birthday to my husband, Bob
Bob's high school days, mid 1950s Bob at Vigeland Park, Oslo, August 2011 So, why on Bob's 75th birthday, do I feel so old? Maybe it has to do with the library of memories from all the years we've been together that I carry around with me. The first thing that attracted me to Bob happened way back in 1963. I had just started working at TRW (precursor to Northrop Grumman) in a writing and editing group that helped engineers with their reports and proposals. One day I was sitting in my little half-walled cubby hole that didn't have any doors and heard someone speaking to the woman who sat in the cubby hole next to mine. I found the voice very distinctive and articulate. Plus, the man speaking never shut up why am I not surprised? I had never heard this voice before so I had to get up and go out into the common area and take a peek at who was speaking. That's how I got my first glimpse of a tall thin man with blond hair cut in a buzz and blue eyes pretty much hidden behind … [Read more...]
