On The Beat Forget Bill Clinton. Forget Tom Hanks. Washington Bureau Chief Brooks Boliek Moons...

When I was interviewing to become The Hollywood Reporter's Washington bureau chief, I told my future bosses that if they wanted a lot of "star groping" they should hire somebody else. I'm a policy wonk. I like to worry about copyright law and telecommunications legislation, not some celebrity's latest cause.

So it was with some irony that I found myself at a Hollywood event last week, waiting with sweaty palms to mingle with the stars. Tom Hanks was at the National Press Club to promote his miniseries "From the Earth to the Moon," about the Apollo missions, and HBO had promised me that I could meet astronaut Dave Scott. I could meet Hanks too, but I didn't care much for that. After all, he's never walked on the moon. I've met a couple of presidents, but meeting an astronaut is more special, even for a jaded journalist.

It's hard to believe that it was nearly 30 years ago that Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Mike Collins landed on the moon. I've always felt fortunate that I was only 10 in 1969. I was too young to grasp the assassinations of JFK, RFK and MLK. While I have some foggy memories of the Vietnam War, I remember the moon shots with a clarity untarnished by age. The Apollo missions were perfect for a boy: vast technical achievements by heroic men.

I pored over the specifications for the Saturn V, the LEM and the Command Module. I memorized them like some kids remember baseball stats. I drew them in class and daydreamed of becoming the weird combination of scientist, engineer and pilot that makes an astronaut.

I feel bad for 10-year-old boys today. Who do they have to look up to? Michael Jordan? I'm sure Jordan is a fine man, and I know he has unparalleled talents. But he just plays basketball. He soars above rims. My airmen soared above Earth.

I'm older now, and so is the nation. We're a little wiser and a lot less innocent. So it was nice to shake Dave Scott's hand and thank him for what he and his peers did for us. When the history of the United States is written fully, I think two achievements will stand out: the construction of workable democracy and the Apollo missions. I can't shake the hands of the founding fathers, but I did shake the hand of a man who stepped on the moon.