Oregon's 'Rocketguy' rebounding after earthly struggles
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By SCOTT HAMMERS
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Associated Press
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Tuesday, June 9, 2015
BEND, Ore. (AP) - Fifteen years after he announced plans to launch himself to the edge of space in a homemade rocket, Bend’s Brian Walker remains earthbound.
Walker, now 59, was widely known as “Rocketguy” during his nearly three years in the spotlight, when he appeared on dozens of television talk shows to discuss his dream of becoming the first person to mount a do-it-yourself mission to space.
Due to his hectic media tour schedule and an unanticipated sharp decline in his income, Walker was never able to complete the rocket he hoped to ride 35 to 50 miles into the sky. A brief marriage failed, and Walker slipped into a deep depression, battling suicidal thoughts and struggling to regain the creative spark he’d enjoyed in earlier years.