It’s important to have a broad range of experiences in one’s life. At least, that’s how Dick Jones tells it.
During the course of his career, he has worn several hats in numerous fields from delivering newspapers to flying an unmanned aircraft. He also holds many hobbies: restoring classic cars, babysitting his grandchildren and running his aerial photography business.
The latter will be featured in the next installment of the Ed Kinney Lecture Series, at the Museum On Main. He will talk on the subjects of aerial photography, global warming and the longest-burning light bulb.
Jones is a photographer and videographe, as well as a commercial airline pilot. He has worked with the U.S. Department of Energy, NASA and Sandia National Laboratories by taking both aerial photos and videos to better their understanding of global warming.
The aerial photos that he will show during the presentation are breathtaking to say the least. He’s shot much of California, from the 50th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge to Hearst Castle to Yosemite National Park.
Lecture attendees will likely enjoy then and now photos of Pleasanton. He compares aerial photos of Pleasanton from 20 years ago with recent photos of the same areas. Jones remarked on how the amount of construction and industrialization that has occurred over the last two decades is quite remarkable.
Jones will also show a video that will display both manned and unmanned airplane flights as well as a look from inside the Fuji Blimp flying over San Francisco.
The presentation will also include a discussion on the longest-burning light bulb, which Jones is involved with. The bulb was originally donated to the Livermore Fire Department in 1901 and is considered to be the longest-burning light bulb in history. It has also been recognized by both the Guinness Book of World Records and Ripley’s Believe It or Not as the oldest known working light bulb.
“We did a test on our Web site and in a period of two weeks we had 72,000 visitors from 25 different countries,” Jones said.
Jones’ photos of the bulb have been featured in many different news mediums including technology magazines and student textbooks.
The Ed Kinney Lecture Series has been taking place monthly since 2003 and was renamed about three years ago in honor of Ed Kinney, a former councilman and mayor. Kinney was also known as “The voice of Pleasanton” for his announcing jobs he did for numerous Pleasanton parades.
The Museum On Main, located at 603 Main St., will be holding the event at 7 p.m. next Thursday. Lecture reservations are requested. Admission is $5 for museum members and $10 for non-members.
For more information on the event, visit www.museumonmain.org or contact Kris Jarvis at 462-2766.
