Name: Eva-Lynne Leibman
Age: 62
City: San Francisco
Position: Eclipse-chaser
J.: You and your husband have a pretty unusual interest: traveling great distances around the world in search of eclipses. How many have you seen?
Eva-Lynne Leibman: We’ve seen five total solar eclipses — in Mexico, Brazil, the Galapagos, Madagascar and Kiribati — and two annular eclipses, in Sunspot, New Mexico, and another place I can’t remember.
What is the most remote location you’ve traveled to?
My husband, Owen, looks at the path of the eclipse to see where we might want to go where it will be visible. In 1998 we saw it from a small ship in the Galapagos Islands. In 2009 we went to Kiribati. We flew from L.A. to Fiji, then flew to Tarawa, the capital of Kiribati. Then we took a freight ship to a little island called Marakei. They hadn’t seen white people in 20 years. Every bigwig on the island came out to greet our group. They all lined up in sarongs, flip-flops and blazers to receive us and shake our hands. And they put on a show for us with singing and dancing.
What are the differences in types of eclipses?
We’ve seen partial eclipses and lunar eclipses, and they’re nice. But the difference between a partial and a total solar eclipse, it’s day and night. You can’t look directly at a partial eclipse. But once it’s total, you can look right at it because the disk of the sun is covered. You see the corona, which you never see at any other time. You look up at the sky and you go, “There’s a hole in the sky!” And there’s fire around the hole and the sun is gone and the air around you is very eerie. It’s hair-raising. And the animals go a little berserk. The birds figure it’s nighttime and they go back to roost. You can easily relate to primitive people who said, “The sun is gone, let’s sacrifice somebody to bring it back.” Since my first one, it’s the only thing I use the word “awesome” for.
All of this was sparked by a family member who was an eclipse-chaser. How did it evolve?
In 1991, there was an eclipse in Mexico and we were going to join my cousin Alex on a cruise ship. But there was no more room. We did go to Mexico, though. We spent the night in L.A., got up at 4 a.m. and flew down to Cabo San Lucas. From there, we took a bus to San Jose del Cabo, where we walked through this fancy hotel and onto the beach and saw this eclipse. We were back in L.A. by 8 p.m. We’ve still never been [to an eclipse] with my cousin, who’s seen about 20.
Sounds like your interest is a real family affair.
It really is. The first one was just the two of us in Mexico. My daughter Helen’s first one was in the Galapagos. She was 7 and had a fabulous time. She’s always been a little scientist anyway, so she’d always walk with the guide ahead of the group, asking the guide questions and learning more than the rest of us. Since the Galapagos trip, she has been with us to each one.
And when you’re not chasing eclipses?
I was one of the owners of Dayenu, the Judaica store at the JCC of San Francisco. It was a labor of love. We never made much money, but that was sort of my community service. It’s still a wonderful store, but I had to retire a few years ago because my health isn’t what it was. I was there for about 10 years, and I still do a little part-time work there occasionally. Now I’m at home, and I do some volunteering and art. I’m a locally known weaver of challah. I weave dough into interesting shapes. Over the years I’ve done the Statue of Liberty, a Star of David, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, a Torah and a solar eclipse.
Is there a next eclipse you’re looking forward to?
There is! The next one we’re going to is in August of 2017. It will be visible in a great section of the U.S., ranging from Oregon in an arc all the way to South Carolina. Owen decided the place likely to have the best weather and the clearest view is Casper, Wyoming. All the little B&Bs are already booked up, so I’ve reserved six rooms at a Days Inn in Casper. This will be the largest eclipse visibility ever in the U.S., I believe.
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