CHARLES T. BOURLAND: TILL WE MEET AGAIN


Charles T. Bourland is a not-so-distant cousin of mine. He would tell me stories about his time while at NASA.

I remember him telling me about a special request from a southern man who loved Georgia BBQ. In The Astronaut’s Cookbook, that Charles co-authored with Gregory L. Vogt, you can read the full story as well as many other outer space tales. Needless to say, that southern young man ate Georgia BBQ in space. The best thing about some of those stories are that I didn’t have to read about them, Charles told me in his joyous, interesting way. I could tell that he loved working for NASA.

The Astronaut's Cookbook
by Charles T. Bourland and Gregory L. Vogt
While I was thinking about him, I had the urge to walk outside and look up at the vast, southern Missouri sky. I saw Orion and then looked for the Big Dipper scanning the sky as stars disappeared through the haze in the atmosphere around the moon. I pause,… then wonder if Charles, as a young boy, looked up at these beautiful stars and thought that he would someday feed men stationed out there somewhere. But he not only would do that, he would also feed his family and friends, at his home, good food and wonderful tales of culinary feats in zero gravity using words like microbiological and metabolic activity while adding names of cosmonauts here and there.

He was a culinary genius in the Astronaut’s outer-sphere. He lived a life that most of us can only dream of.

Charles T. Bourland passed away on Sunday, September 15, 2019. He was a wonderful man and he will be dearly missed by a cousin who is very proud and happy to have known him.

God speed, Charles T. Bourland. Till we meet again.

© 2019 Laveda D. Rockford

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