Bill Booker on Zachary Lansdowne at Library

Bill Booker will give a fourth lecture in a series on Tuesday October 29th at 2:00 p.m. in the Reference Room of the Greenville Public Library. The title is “Soaring High” and promises to be as enjoyable and educational as always.

In Bill’s words, “Born and reared in Greenville, Zachary Lansdowne became a preeminent commander of lighter than air military craft, also known as dirigibles. He flew with his crew throughout the United States, helping to fulfill the government’s insight at the time which dictated that dirigibles were to be a major arm of military offense and defense.

“Born in a still standing frame home along East Third Street in later 1888, he proved to be a brilliant scholar and won appointment to the Naval Academy in Maryland from where, upon graduation, he rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander and was placed in charge of the USS Shenandoah dirigible operating out of Lakehurst, New Jersey.

“The airship was sent on a promotional tour in early September of 1926 when it crashed to the ground in southeast Ohio. The impact caused the death of Lansdowne and 13 other crew members. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. The program will reveal interesting details of his life and times and of his untimely demise.”