Sun-Chaser: Marvin J. Vann, an American Life

Stars Above the Pinnacle

The widespread interest that the Foothill solar eclipse program had generated among the Mexican and Zapotec populations of Oaxaca impressed NASF Director, George Everett, very favorably. He wrote a letter back to Foothill president Calvin Flint singing Marvin's praises. Everett was particularly impressed with Marvin's imaginative involvement of the local people in the project.

After the eclipse, Marvin and his group donated one of the solar prominence telescopes to the Mexican National Observatory in Baja. They also left a small telescope with the people of Mitla. Marvin hoped that doing so would stimulate local interest in eventually building an observatory. That hope unfortunately foundered over the next two years in a sea of communal wrangling.

On one of Marvin's subsequent visits to Oaxaca, however, the city fathers congratulated him on his earlier work with the people. They also feted him by putting him in jail as part of a civic celebration. Asked what his penalty should be, Marvin, his unrealized hopes for Mitla and his Guatemalan work both fresh in his mind, proposed that he build an observatory for the citizens of Oaxaca and equip it with the necessary telescope. So it was that what Marvin considers the single most important project of his life got its kick-start from a cell in a Mexican jail.

Fig. 8-1

Marvin in jail.

Rising to the spirit of the occasion and not be outdone, the Mayor of Oaxaca responded by promising 10,000 pesos to the project. That amount, Marvin remembers, was a pittance. The mayor took no risk. If the project happened he got kudos for his foresight at negligible cost. If it didn't, the petty-cash line item simply moved. For Marvin, however, the mayor's gesture made all the difference. Now the project had an identity outside Marvin's imagination, an identity to which Marvin could give form and substance and for which, with his savoir-faire, he could attract material and moral support through his network of connections. That network included the Neighbors Abroad program, Rotary Clubs, the astronomy community throughout the northern hemisphere, charitable organizations and foundations, and potential corporate sponsors.

Not everyone took Marvin seriously, and not everyone quite understood what he was proposing. Although the Neighbors Abroad program was used to exchanging citizens with its sister city, or participating in student exchanges, and although the Palo Alto chapter had an annual project as part of a nation wide competition, up until that time, the projects had taken a more modest form, like buying and contributing books to Oaxacan schools. Beyond that, not all the members of the Neighbors Abroad program were quite sure what an "observatory" was. Some thought that an observatory was a place where you grew flowers. Others imagined that the object of an observatory was astrology rather than astronomy and that predicting the future was the point of the program.

Nonetheless, Marvin's initial efforts generated interest in important quarters. Ray Rupple, a high-school principal, was then president of Neighbors Abroad, and he knew something about Marvin's history. Others remembered Marvin as the person who had started the Palo Alto astronomy club. A player who was to prove crucial to the initial stages of the project was Frank Koch, personnel director for the Syntex Company. One of Koch's collateral Page  135responsibilities in the organization was recommending worthy community projects for corporate support. He offered the firm's financial help.

Marvin actively sought out others with collateral expertise. Looking for fiberglass fabricating companies, Marv found one that built the large white reflectors that capture satellite signals. Speaking with one of that company's construction employees, John Babcock, Marvin asked if he himself could build an observatory dome, sixteen feet in diameter, for Oaxaca.

"No," Babcock responded, "but I could."

Marvin and John Babcock became instant friends. Babcock said that he would be glad to build the dome, "just for the fun of it," but that he could not afford to contribute the materials.

Marvin got Babcock and Koch together. With Babcock's materials list and Koch's access to Syntex' community project money, the plan began taking shape. Now firmly aboard, Neighbors Abroad, under Marvin and Rupple's leadership, hammered out a project budget and assured their Oaxacan opposite numbers that plans for the observatory had begun in earnest.

Chuck Towns, a former associate of Marvin's at Lockheed, offered to equip the observatory with a complete HAM radio station, including a 50-foot antenna that would be useful in many ways. Dorothy and Wayne Rossiter, enthusiastic lovers of Mexico, offered their organizational and artistic skills to the project. Wayne had designed and brought into being the famed Helicopter Museum in Palo Alto. Marvin asked Wayne to draw a picture of the proposed observatory as Marvin envisioned it. Wayne enthusiastically agreed and shortly produced an artist's conception that gave flesh to Marvin's ideas. Moreover, Wayne drew a floor plan in support of his rendition.

"That plan," Marvin says, "was so well done that nothing was left to do but execute it."

At the next Neighbors Abroad meeting, armed with the picture and plan, Marvin gave a presentation to the group. Impressed, the organization appointed him the project coordinator and authorized his travel to Mexico to sell the idea to the Oaxacan chapter.

Given the broad base of the support that Marvin had already assembled, the Oaxacans were pleased to go along. The mayor appointed the Neighbors Abroad president and prominent businessman, Carlos Hamilton, to be the Page  136local coordinator. Though he proved clueless about astronomy, Hamilton recognized the potential of the project for Oaxacan business and tourism. So he too signed on.

At this point, Marvin revealed the depth of his sensitivity to the sensibilities of his Mexican counterparts. He sought out someone local with the expertise necessary to bring the project to completion. Carlos Hamilton accordingly introduced Marvin to Raphael Ballestreros, an architect and professor at the University of Oaxaca. Marvin showed Ballestreros the picture and floor plan. "This," he said, "is only an idea of what we have in mind, something we drew up to promote the project. What we would really like is to have you design the observatory and oversee its construction. If you're willing to do it, it will be your creation."

"It was essential," Marvin relates, "that the Oaxacans furnish the site and create the final plans. Involvement by their people was the heart of the project. Failing that, it would be doomed from the outset."

Happily, Ballestreros instantly found the idea intriguing and agreed.

"I have no idea," says Marvin, "if they paid him anything."

The Oaxacans, with hardly any prodding from Marvin, decided to build the observatory on the pinnacle of the city, atop the overlooking mountain, El Fortin. On that site a meteorological station already stood, so no land acquisition was necessary. Gratified by the positive response and the progress achieved, Marvin returned to Los Altos.

There, he confesses, he expected to have a very long wait before implementing the next phase of the project. After all, it had required the citizens of Mitla two years to reach a negative decision. North Americans often express surprise at the leisurely pace of many Mexican undertakings.

Marvin was genuinely surprised, therefore, when in comparatively short order Ballestreros contacted him, asking that he come back to inspect the work and make plans to build the dome on site. Marvin complied, and was pleased on arrival to find the building, incorporating almost all of Wayne Rossiter's ideas, completely erected. An associated office building had also been added. The grounds had been cleared as well.

The observatory building wasn't quite as far along as Marvin thought, though.

"It still has to be plastered and painted, Marvin," Ballestreros explained. Marvin, accustomed to red brick exteriors both at his undergraduate observatory at Albion and at Foothill, felt taken aback at the notion that the beautiful brickwork before him was about to be covered with plaster. "It's Mexico," he thought, "you plaster it." Several of the workmen, Marvin feels sure, were amused by his naiveté in thinking that heat-absorbing brick in such an important building should be left bare as the stone work in the dome tower would be.

Nevertheless, he was able to convince Ballestreros to leave unplastered an interior wall in the lecture room. This, once adorned with large astronomical photographs, Marvin found very aesthetically pleasing. Perhaps, he thinks, he added a new page to Oaxacan interior decor.

Now it was time for the dome to be constructed. Marvin explained to Raphael what was needed and drew a plan. The Oaxacans would construct a dome-shaped plaster form, 16 feet in diameter. John Babcock would then fly to Oaxaca with the necessary materials to fabricate the dome itself on site. Marvin estimated that with the help of 10 or 12 workers, two-weeks' work would see the dome in place once Babcock was on site.

While all this work had been going forward, Marvin had himself been busy building telescopes—a six-inch refractor and one of his solar prominence telescopes. So when word came that the plaster form was ready, Neighbors Abroad shipped the telescopes and the materials for the dome via air to Mexico City. A week later Marv and John Babcock, who had cleared his schedule, followed. Marvin's friend Jorge Gonzales and the Mayor of Oaxaca, Jorge Martinez, met the men at the airport. Marvin was prepared to deal with customs formalities to retrieve the telescopes and dome materials, but he discovered to his delight that the Oaxacans had anticipated him and that all was safely on its way to Oaxaca. He complimented them on their efficiency. The four men set out for Oaxaca and a dinner together. There, Jorge Martinez came up with a name for the observatory, "Punta Vista," point of view or viewing point. All thought that a happy inspiration, and the name stuck.

Early the next morning, Marvin and John Babcock arrived on El Fortin to find the telescope and dome materials safely arrived in their truck. Its waiting driver was sleeping peacefully in the cab. Inspecting the form for Page  138the dome, they discovered it had been beautifully executed. The plaster had been applied over a plywood base. The dome form did not vary by more than a quarter-inch from the plan.

While the telescopes were assembled and mounted inside the building, Babcock immediately set to work constructing the dome. First he applied a layer of release paint. Then, with help from the crew, layers of epoxy and fiber glass cloth. Next came a layer of balsa wood, then many more layers of epoxy and cloth. By sunset, the dome was all but finished.

The next morning, Babcock and Marvin supervised cutting the dome's opening and installing a steel ring around the bottom rim as a track for the dome's rollers. Then John Babcock applied a coat of fast drying epoxy paint that sealed the dome and improved its appearance. Once the paint was dry, a team of about 20 men carried the dome up rickety, wooden ladders and set it in place atop the rollers. The dome exactly fit. A cheer went up.

Fig. 8.2

The work crew sets the dome in place.

Throughout these final stages, many visitors had gathered to view the proceedings. Just before the dome was carried up and set in place, both the mayor of the city and the governor of the State of Oaxaca had arrived Page  139to watch and to congratulate the bi-national team who had brought the observatory to fruition.

Fig. 8.3

Finished observatory with offices (red) and meteorological station.

"If this project is a success," remarked Marvin within the hearing of the two officials, "I will build a planetarium for Oaxaca."

Only details remained. The radio tower had to be erected and made operational. Some landscaping needed doing, including a barbeque pit. The major bits still requiring attention included building a half-mile road to the site and surfacing the site for parking. Beyond those details, none of which required Marvin's active participation, he needed to make preparations both in Palo Alto and in Oaxaca for the dedication. A numerous contingent from the North American chapter was expected to attend, and plans called for housing them with Oaxacan families. So a committee of Oaxacans traveled north to ballyhoo the event among their opposite numbers, and Jorge Gonzales planned an archeological itinerary for those who wished to travel beyond Oaxaca.

A retired meteorologist, Canuto Muñoz Mares, was appointed the observatory's first director. Oddly, Mares conceived an initial dislike for Marvin Page  140based on the absurd assumption, as Mares later admitted, that Marv must be a communist. Marvin nonetheless worked with Mares, teaching him to use the instruments, and Mares proved an apt pupil. Then, suddenly, the initially chilly Mares warmed, and suggested that he teach Marvin better Spanish. Marvin is sure that the director's change of heart was attributable to conversations Mares overheard between Marvin and an Indian worker named Benny.

Benny, Marvin recalls, was a very small man, about 4' 6" tall who spoke only Zapotec well, hardly any Spanish, and certainly no English. Marvin says that no one remembered hiring Benny, but he was always on hand, always willing to work, and, despite not sharing a common language with his employers, always seemed to understand what was expected of him.

"Benny was always first on the scene," says Marvin, "and always the last to leave. If you asked him to guard something, he would spend the night."

Benny aroused Marvin's curiosity. One day, Marvin asked him where he lived. Benny waved vaguely in the direction of the Hotel Victoria, about a half-mile down the mountain. But Marvin could see neither village nor house in that direction. Marvin persisted until Benny motioned him to follow. Benny's home proved indeed to be in the direction he had indicated, and not far distant. He and his wife and baby occupied what Marvin describes as "A half-cave in the mountain side that was partly covered with an awning. They were living in there almost like animals," he says. Marvin felt deeply moved, not only by the evidence of their poverty, but also by their courage and spirit in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.

At any rate, Benny became Marvin's shadow, and Marvin spent a good deal of time communicating with Benny in a hodgepodge of languages and gestures. The two became close, and before Marvin left, he saw to it that Benny was generously rewarded for his service and fidelity. On several occasions, from the corner of his eye, Marvin had observed Canuto Mares watching him and Benny together, and perhaps Mares saw Marvin give Benny the cash.

In any case, Marvin's kindness to Benny seemed to revise Mares' opinion of the American. Mares told Marvin of his compassion for the many people like Benny, and he began taking Marvin places he had never been to see Page  141things he wouldn't otherwise have seen, caves and small villages, what Mares called "his Mexico."

Fig. 8.4

Benny with Marvin by sunstone at observatory.

At the same time, Mares made no secret of his general distaste for North Americans. He thought they were overbold and that they flaunted their wealth. Marvin chose not to pursue this subject. He grew to respect Mares enormously. He felt sure that Mares worked at the observatory for a pittance, if anything, and that he supplemented the observatory's meager budget out of his own retirement funds.

Preparations for the dedication of the observatory continued apace. As the day approached when the delegation from Palo Alto Neighbors Abroad was scheduled to arrive, Marvin became worried because the half-mile of road and the necessary site paving had not even begun. He realized, however, that this problem was totally out of his hands. He could, as it turned out, have spared himself the anxiety. Two days before the arrival of the Palo Alto group, a swarm of trucks and workman attacked the road project, and by the time the California contingent arrived, a road paved with inter-linking blocks and a parking lot looked as if they had always been there. Clearly, Page  142Marvin thinks, the Mexicans on this project had anticipated the just-in-time concept adopted in the 1990s by the U. S. manufacturing sector.

The Californians arrived at the airport where they were presented with flowers and dancers performed in their honor. They were whisked off to their host families or their hotels, and all were invited to a round of private parties that evening. The next day a brief afternoon dedicatory ceremony was attended by the Neighbors Abroad members and by dignitaries and officials, some in colorful uniforms. Not only did Mayor Jorge Martinez and Oaxaca State Governor Sandoval attend, but also present was Dr. Arcadio Poveda, the chief astronomer of Mexico. As a special tribute that moved the Californians both to cheers and tears, the Oaxacan State Band played, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco."

In the evening, both Oaxacans and Californians returned to view the stars and those of the bright planets that were up. Not only did those who had been directly involved with the project come up to the observatory for the star party, townspeople trooped up the hill as well. Prepared for this eventuality, in addition to the main telescope trained on the heavens, two small telescopes had been set up on the front platform of the observatory and were turned down to the city lights. The people were thus able to see their city by night from above, a treat they thoroughly enjoyed. Moreover, local vendors had availed themselves of the opportunities presented by a crowd in a new venue. Hot tortillas and beans were available to the townspeople who arrived. Those who entered the building encountered a stunning artistic treat. Wayne Rossiter, who had sketched the original concept, had recruited an artist friend, Ed Jacobson, to paint an astrological mural in the foyer.

A series of mini-lectures, one of which Marvin gave, followed the viewing, principally, Marvin recalls, to show off the space and its equipment. On the conclusion of Marvin's mini-lecture, Mayor Martinez rose and said, "Marvin, when do we start the planetarium?"

That question provided all the impetus Marvin and his cohorts required.

Fig. 8.5

Ed Jacobson's astrological mural.