The best and only reason to wear a toupee
Some of you may have noticed that “Starhuckster” sounds oddly familiar. Others may have immediately recognized the reference, while a few probably just think I’m a dork. Actually, you all must think I’m dork, but that’s fine, it’s totally true.
The reason I chose that name, aside from the fact I think it’s pretty funny, was to pay homage to a man who always reminded me to “Keep looking up”. His name was Jack Horkheimer and he was originally known as The Star Huslter. He was, without a doubt, TV’s greatest advocate of naked-eye astronomy. Most of what I saw of him was a late night, pre-signoff, segment that aired on a few broadcast stations, telling me what I’d see if I put down Super Mario Bros. long enough to look at the night sky. Pretty much everyone has seen at least one of these short segments and some may have wondered, as I did, why he chose to wear that toupee. Was he really so vain? Actually, as I recently learned, had he not worn it, his shiny dome would have vanished into the green screen behind him as he flew and flipped through space.
Of course, due to people’s delicate sensibilities and the internet providing expectedly seedy search results when you enter the word “Hustler”, he changed his TV title to Star Gazer in 1997.
Sadly, Jack passed away in 2010, but there’s a new Star Gazer and they’re keeping it real.
History is made at night 