At a dinner that was part of ciWeek10 festivities, “First Man” author James R. Hansen spoke of the monumental task it turned out to be to persuade astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, to let Hansen write his biography. 

Armstrong was notoriously private and had made it clear that he wasn’t keen on reliving the past. He had turned down interview requests regularly. Hansen had trouble even contacting Armstrong, finally coming up with his address in suburban Cincinnati by leaning on a friend. 

Hansen, a space historian and professor at Auburn University, sent Armstrong a letter pleading his case. Armstrong wrote back and politely declined. 

Months went by and Armstrong’s birthday rolled around. Hansen sent him a couple of books he had written as a gift, not to bolster his case but because he thought Armstrong might like them. 

That started two years of occasional communications that led to a book contract. Armstrong had turned down the likes of James Michener, but finally agreed to sit down with fellow Midwesterner and space-program authority Hansen.

Hansen recently found his original contract with Armstrong, in which the astronaut agreed to sit for 15 hours of recorded interviews. But in the end, he sat for more like 50 hours.

Hansen’s book, “First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong” was the basis on the of the 2018 movie “First Man,” which Hansen helped produce.