Editing the script Lunatics with Jack Black's Mother Judith

When I arrived at Judith’s home a year and a half ago for our interview I didn’t realize that she and her husband were still living in the same home where they raised her son Jack Black. At our first encounter she brought me upstairs to work in her home office. It wasn’t until much later on that I figured out I was working in Jack’s old bedroom. What drew me to Judith originally was her accomplishments. She worked as an engineer for Northrop Grumman, at that time they were a NASA subcontractor and her division was responsible for the LEM’s (Lunar Excursion Module) abort guidance system.  It is  what we think of as the Eagle, as in, “The Eagle has landed”. After the end of the Apollo program she went on to work for HST (Hubble Space Telescope). The HST in its day was considered NASA’s most costly mistake that didn’t involve the loss of lives. It wasn’t until the Space Shuttle astronauts returned to the HST and fixed the blurry lens problem that the HST was considered successful. The screenplay focuses on Judith’s early life and it isn’t about going to the moon; instead it is the story of a bright young woman’s struggle to find love, raise a family and fit into a society that continually tried to expel her because she was the wrong gender. Fortunately for the women who followed in her foot steps she did and awesome job and broke the ice.  All four of her children are accomplished and brilliant people; it’s no wonder why they are so successful. 
After Judith retired she went to work helping young women define themselves in traditionally male professions. She and her husband David created Cascade Pass, where they publish books on subjects that inspire young girls to dare to be brave and follow their dreams. The irony of the story Lunatics is that Judith’s life continues to be interesting even after she left the space program in the 80’s. I’m not sure which part would be more fun to write about; the first fifty years or the latter.

ElyseWilk