Category: Nonfiction
Reviewed by: Ted Spitzmiller
Title: The Barber, the Astronaut, and the Golf Ball
Author: Barbara Radnofsky and Ed Supkis
Format: Paperback/Kindle
Pages: 172
Publisher: Stony Creek Publishing
Date: October 2024
Retail Price: $22.95/$6.95
ISBN: 979-8989120345
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This rather short book and its descriptive title attempts to determine if a golf ball, autographed by astronaut Alan Shepard, had actually been taken to the Moon by the astronaut on his Apollo 14 mission in 1971. It may be recalled that Shepard took a golf club and hit two balls while on the lunar surface that were not recovered. Shortly after returning to Earth, he gave a ball to his barber, Carlos Villagomez. Thus, the speculation about this ball.
Shepherd’s career is briefly reviewed, as is Carlos’, his barber, and their close friendship. Don’t expect to learn much about the early space program or Shepard (who passed in 1998), but the interaction between the two is interesting. Featured prominently is the haircut Carlos gave Shepard before and after his now famous Moon excursion.
The later haircut introduced a new style that transitioned Shepard’s traditional crew cut to a longer, more “modern” hairstyle. Carlos was not just an accomplished barber but an involved member of his community, and his knowledge and interests are impressive.
Shepard was known for being brusque to those he didn’t favor, but he comes through in a much more positive manner, as exemplified by his friendship with Carlos, his family, and friends.
One of several aspects is the revelation of the extended time that each Apollo lunar mission required of the astronauts’ personal time and that mundane tasks (getting a haircut) could prove so awkward. An aside story is Carlos’ disguise of Neil Armstrong via a longer hairstyle and fake mustache that gave the well-known moonwalker some anonymity to allow him to travel more freely.
The question of whether the ball given to Carlos was a “lunar ball,” carried to the Moon by Shepard, is not resolved. Because Shepard declared to NASA that he was taking two balls to the Moon and that he never explicitly told Carlos that his ball had been there, tends to obscure the issue.
© 2025 Ted Spitzmiller
1 thought on “Book Review: The Barber, the Astronaut, and the Golf Ball”
Thank you for the review of The Barber, the Astronaut and the Golf Ball. You captured our theme in a word: the “interaction” between the two Navy men — a Bosun’s Mate and an Admiral. With cooperation of Shepard’s daughters we hoped to capture an admirable side of the astronaut — his great and good deeds, his humanity and sentimentality. We tried to do the same in the 25 minute BAGB documentary thanks to aerospace engineer turned documentarian Jonathan Richards, which you can find on his website:
https://vimeo.com/878485586