Edward Lighthart (Photo: Mike Siegel / The Seattle Times)
...I was surprised to see a photo of him in the NASA archives, which lists him as the 13 year old backup for Neil Armstrong.
Ignore my tagline...tell me more.
Posted on 08/20/2009 9:06:06 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A man who wandered out of Discovery Park three weeks ago suffering from apparent amnesia has been identified as former Tucsonan Edward F. Lighthart, according to friends who recognize him from his photograph published in The Seattle Times.
Lighthart, 54, is a 1974 graduate of Sahuaro High School who also attended Pima Community College and the University of Arizona, according to Arizona Daily Star archives. He also attended New York’s Culinary Institute of America in the mid-1970s, with the hopes of opening a French catering service in Tucson after graduating, according to a 1976 article.
Friends have e-mailed photographs of Lighthart, and he acknowledges that the man in the photographs is he, according to Seattle police.
“The name isn’t ringing a bell, but the image is definitely me,” said Lighthart, who had been listed at Swedish Medical Center as Jon Doe since he walked out of the park.
While he didn’t recognize his name, he said that might happen down the road.
Seattle police said now that they have Lighthart’s birth date, they’re trying to find family, friends and colleagues, said Tina Drain, with Seattle Police Department missing person’s office.
Within hours of posting the story online, a reader identified Jon Doe as Lighthart, an English teacher he knew in China. The reader, David Akast, said Lighthart taught at English schools in China and “had an incredible knowledge of European cultural history.” Another friend, Randall Snyder of Columbus, Ohio, said he knew Lighthart from the mid-1990s when they attended the Union Institute in Cincinnati together.
He said Lighthart was a high-caliber chef in New York but left that profession following an accident. He then moved to Cincinnati to attend the Union Institute. Snyder, who hasn’t seen Lighthart since the late 1990s, said Lighthart left the school without graduating and moved to Europe. He said he has a huge art collection. “He is a very, very brilliant man and knows art like nobody I know,” Snyder said. Police also said they are working with Interpol to find his European contacts. Drain said that Lighthart entered the U.S. in March 2008 from Calgary, Alberta. John Lucas, a spokesman at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, said Lighthart graduated in 1984 with a bachelor’s degree in French. When he left with the University of Wisconsin, he gave them an address in Vienna, Austria, Lucas said.
The man known only as Jon Doe wandered out of Discover Park wearing pressed khakis and had $600 in his sock. He said he didn’t know who he was or when he was born. He is fluent in English, French and German and has a professorial knowledge of European cultural history. He remembered attending the Culinary Institute of America and being a chef.
Doesn’t sound as if he has Alzheimers. Sounds like ordinary amnesia. Wonder what happened to him?
Gabrielle Giffords voter, no doubt.
Mini-stroke?
Peyote? Datura?
Did you stop taking Lipitor?
***People really keep $600 in their socks?***
Makes you look taller :>)
Lighthart, 54, is a 1974 graduate of Sahuaro High School who also attended Pima Community College and the University of Arizona, according to Arizona Daily Star archives. He also attended New York's Culinary Institute of America in the mid-1970s, with the hopes of opening a French catering service in Tucson after graduating... Within hours of posting the story online, a reader identified Jon Doe as Lighthart, an English teacher he knew in China. The reader, David Akast, said Lighthart taught at English schools in China and "had an incredible knowledge of European cultural history." Another friend, Randall Snyder of Columbus, Ohio, said he knew Lighthart from the mid-1990s when they attended the Union Institute in Cincinnati together. He said Lighthart was a high-caliber chef in New York but left that profession following an accident... late 1990s... Lighthart... moved to Europe... Lighthart entered the U.S. in March 2008 from Calgary, Alberta. John Lucas, a spokesman at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, said Lighthart graduated in 1984 with a bachelor's degree in French. When he left with the University of Wisconsin, he gave them an address in Vienna, Austria, Lucas said... He is fluent in English, French and German and has a professorial knowledge of European cultural history. He remembered attending the Culinary Institute of America and being a chef.I first met him during a spelunking expedition in the Caverns of Agartha in 1982, and didn't see him again until 1995 when we both participated in a mountain climb up a live volcano in Antarctica. I haven't seen him since, but in 1997 I was surprised to see a photo of him in the NASA archives, which lists him as the 13 year old backup for Neil Armstrong.
Edward Lighthart (Photo: Mike Siegel / The Seattle Times)
...I was surprised to see a photo of him in the NASA archives, which lists him as the 13 year old backup for Neil Armstrong.
Ignore my tagline...tell me more.
The tongue, it was in the cheek.
...I knew that...but how did that $600 get into his sock? And how many people would sleep in a park with that much cash in their sock? And when will the book come out? There’s so much you’re not telling...
WA ping
Say WA? Evergreen State ping
Quick link: WA State Board
FReepmail sionnsar if you want on or off this ping list.
Ping sionnsar if you see a Washington state related thread.
I’m considering this for the title: “Fugue States — Fugue-Getaboutit”.
What a strange, strange story.
Sounds like Forrest Gump.
:’)
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