Buzz Aldrin at The Oakwood

for years my fav trivia about The Oakwood Apartments here in Greater Los Angeles is that Buzz Aldrin used to live there.

learned it from his memoir, Magnificent Desolation, which chronicles his difficulties with alcoholism and depression after his return to Earth and troubled stint running the test pilot school at Edwards Air Force Base here in SoCal:

I mean, how you gonna come back from:

I mean, there were some good times:

Buzz did live in the Oakwood — the one in Woodlawn Hills, not the one on the Cahuenga Pass that every Hollywood person has driven past a thousand times:

His lifestyle:

(I’ve described this story to many male friends who often look off to the distance wistfully and say “that sounds great”)

Once had the chance to shake Buzz’s hand when he was on 30 Rock.  What a true hero.