THE MAN WHO MADE MR. GORSKY'S DAY:

I requested interviews twice with Armstrong in what turned out to be the final years of his life. Both times I was politely told he simply wasn't interested. He never wanted to be used as a simple quote in a story about space policy or to let a magazine use his image to boost readership. Asked regularly about his feelings when taking that first step, Armstrong would routinely fall back on the same sentiment. "I was certainly aware that this was the culmination of the work of 300,000 to 400,000 people over a decade."

Ever the skilled pilot, he kept us guessing. Three months ago, Armstrong granted a lengthy sit-down to--who else?--the Certified Practicing Accountants of Australia, a professional trade group. Armstrong spent several hours explaining every detail of his fabled moon landing, which was close to ending in out-of-gas disaster. It was an interview that CNN or NBC would have killed for, and he explained that he simply wanted to tell his story in detail without exploiting it. Graphic designers helped create no-frills visuals to show the moments before Armstrong's lunar touchdown. The footage now, of course, is a relic.

In an era of instant glory and relentless promotion, it's hard to imagine someone like Armstrong existing now. Plenty of people deserve public accolades, but few if any turn them down, trading in the guarantee of fame and immense fortune for privacy and the chance to simply keep doing the work they enjoy.

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