OK I understand that Alan Shepard cheated on his wife Louise but I didn't know that Louise too had other men in her life. As far as I know the Max Kaplan (the LIFE reporter) character was specifically created for this show so I'm a bit clueless. Was something similar mentioned in the book? There has to be something because otherwise I don't see why they would put something like this in a fact-based story.
shareNo, there really was a dedicated LIFE reporter, Loudon Wainwright, who wrote or edited all their stories for the magazine and was the only reporter who had intimate contact with the wives during the Mercury program. Yes, he was the father of Loudon Wainwright the singer/composer and no, he didn't sleep with any of the astronaut wives.
shareMax - simply by virtue of his name - seems not intended to be Loudon Wainwright. Max is, I think, a fictional creation, somewhat of a composite. As I understand his role on the show, he is specifically assigned to cover the wives, and only the wives. That wasn't Wainwright's role: he also worked with (and ghost-wrote for) the astronauts themselves, and while he was the primary contact with the wives, he wasn't the exclusive one.
shareNo, go back and watch the pilot episode when they set up the LIFE deal. It's made clear that Max is covering the astronauts and their wives. Since this series is about the wives, they mostly show Max in dealing with them, but they also have scenes of him with the guys. There's no need, historically, to write in a separate journalist for the wives because Wainwright did, in fact, become close with them and edited his/their LIFE stories to protect their private lives. This is discussed in both the source book and in other books about the Mercury program.
By the terms of the LIFE contract, Wainwright had exclusive access to the Mercury astronauts and their wives except for NASA-approved press conferences or other appearances. When Gemini came along, there was a woman journalist who managed to connect with some of the astronaut wives and write about them. Her story is also told in the source book.
It's hard to tell who wrote what for Life, because they made a practice of casting the personal coverage in the first person and slapping the bylines of astronauts and wives on pieces that were actually written by reporters.
Anyway, all the sources I've seen refer to Life's "ghostwriters" in the plural (see, e.g. "Space and the American Imagination"). Names mentioned as writers - other than Wainwright, who was pretty clearly the prime one - include Patsy Parkin, Don Schanche and Dodie Hamblin. Hamblin may be the "woman journalist" you refer to. In the Apollo era (1967- ), Hamblin was the primary "personal" writer, as Wainwright by then had a more exalted role at Life as a general columnist. But her byline appears on at least one story about Mercury as early as 1962, and it seems likely she had a hand in the uncredited (or miscredited) pieces too. Schanche's byline also appears on at least one space-program story in the Mercury era.
The role of "Max" on the show is a matter of interpretation, I suppose. I'm assuming he's not in the book. He's definitely fictional: his name is Max Kramer, which is not the name of any real person who wrote for Life Magazine about the Mercury program. If he were supposed to be Loudon Wainwright they would call him by his real name, same as the did for all the astronauts, their wives and kids, Jim Webb, Chris Kraft, etc.
On the show, his beat seems to be limited to the wives. His first scene on the show - while the credits are still running - ends with him being ordered to "get the wives on board." Shortly thereafter, we see him talking to the wives as a group, and ignoring the astronauts entirely.
The Max character on the show seems to have little to no interaction with the astronauts, and is always with the wives. If I remember correctly, we haven't once seen him even speak to an astronaut. On the other hand, if Mrs. Shepard and Grissom are chatting as they walk down the street, Max is there. Louise can find him at lunch, and he apparently lives close enough to stroll over to her house at odd hours. He's at their all-wives outdoor party, their photo-shoot, and when they watch a test launch. Being with the wife-on-the-spot during her husband's launch makes perfect sense even if he's covering the astronauts as well: but (on the last episode) he's with the wives, as a group, even when he's not with the one whose husband is going up.*
Maybe things'll change in later episodes, but I haven't seen those yet.
____
*In real life, Wainwright did watch Carpenter's launch and mission with his wife in a house on the beach away from the other wives. That's neither here nor there except insofar is it consistent with the general notion that the Life reporter interactions are fictionalized.
Well, then why don't you read the source book and the many other well-researched books that depict the Mercury program and the astronaut's lives in depth? Because they make it clear that there was only one LIFE reporter assigned who had personal access to the astronauts and their families, Loudon Wainwright. Max, thus, is intended to be Loudon Wainwright.
Just because the series writers are showing so many scenes of Max with the wives, that doesn't mean he's intended to be a second, dedicated LIFE reporter assigned just to the wives. He's clearly covering the astronauts as well, they're just cherry-picking scenes of him with the wives since the series is about the wives.
It's really quite simple, no need to over-think the issue or posit imaginary characters.
I'm talking about the show.
The guy in the book is called "Loudon Wainwright" and is Loudon Wainwright.
The guy on the show is called "Max Kaplan" and isn't.
Whether or not there was - in real life - only a single reporter from Life who had access to the astronauts and wives is kind of irrelevant, though I don't think that was the case. On the show, Max certainly does appear to be the only Life reporter with access to the wives.
I'm not sure what gives you the idea that Max (the character on the show) is "clearly covering the astronauts as well." He's been in the same room as them on a few occasions, but I don't think he's exchanged a single word with any of them. He might be, I suppose, though there's nothing on the show that suggests that, much less makes it clear.
You have a weird definition of "over-think."
In the last episode, Rene did complain (twice) to Max, that she didn't like the way he portrayed Scott in his article. "What I don't like is Max editorializing. He made Scott sound like a navel-gazing beatnik"
shareWhich is exactly what the real Rene Carpenter said about Wainwright's story on Scott. Thus, again, Max = Wainwright.
shareThat's not such a good point.
shareYes, well, the transitive principle dates back to Archimedes (or further) and is one basic rules of geometry. We wouldn't have gotten to the moon without understanding basic geometry, right?
Denying basic logic is just silly.
Of course:
All men are mortal.
Socrates is mortal.
Therefore all men are Socrates.
That's a good point.
shareI'm talking about the show.
The guy in the book is called "Loudon Wainwright" and is Loudon Wainwright.
The guy on the show is called "Max Kaplan" and isn't.
Whether or not there was - in real life - only a single reporter from Life who had access to the astronauts and wives is kind of irrelevant, though I don't think that was the case. On the show, Max certainly does appear to be the only Life reporter with access to the wives.
I'm not sure what gives you the idea that Max (the character on the show) is "clearly covering the astronauts as well." He's been in the same room as them on a few occasions, but I don't think he's exchanged a single word with any of them. He might be, I suppose, though there's nothing on the show that suggests that, much less makes it clear.
You have a weird definition of "over-think."
This is drivel. My point is clear and definitive.
share