Ad Astra to the Quiet Man

By Lou Zacharilla

New York City, NY, March 3, 2025 -  Let’s face it: it’s a cringy time. People are either unhinged or overwhelmed by life in every part of the world globe.  Climate change, vaccine denial, mistrust of government and even the next door neighbor.  The lack of privacy and the Portal in college football have brought the wrecking ball our lives.  I even read that 25% of young adults believe Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to replace real-life romantic relationships!

	Jim Oliver

And three weeks ago we learned an asteroid had a greater than 2% chance of crashing into the Eiffel Tower.  WTF!

If that asteroid does hit the world’s most beautiful city or its greatest (New York of course), the news will be spread on satellite news gathering trucks and information will arrive immediately to us on CNN, Sky, CCTV or even ESPN (unless there’s a Super Bowl broadcast), thanks in large part to a shy guy who, working from a garage in Asheville, North Carolina many years ago developed the satellite antenna dish that could make it so.

I’m talking about James Luther (Jim) Oliver. 

As a kid he spent countless hours in his neighborhood in Buckhead, Georgia in the years after the world war exploring stuff, building elaborate treehouses, hotrods and transistor radios.

When he was eight he worked at his father’s service station, where he pumped gas, waxed cars, swept floors, and DID anything else his dad needed help with. He learned from his father the value of hard work and the importance of always doing your best.  

He did well in school but joked he could never keep up with his older sister. He was soft-spoken and grew up with a noticeable stutter. He had poor vision, wore thick glasses, and was the smallest kid in his graduating class. 

Despite those less than exceptional physical qualities he led an exceptional life.

Much of it revolved around a natural talent for design. He realized soon that Industrial Design made his creative side Flourish.  He completed his studies at Georgia Tech University thanks to the unwavering support of his mother, a working-class woman who contributed her entire income to his tuition.

Starting at Lockheed, he designed antenna positioners, sensors, and stabilizers for the U.S. Air Force’s Low Earth Orbit spy satellites. He soon won a design award which led him to Stanford University’s Design Engineering program. 

A beautiful redhead named Carol came along--she had a big smile--and then Carol had a wedding ring. A child followed.
He joined Scientific-Atlanta and became part of communications and satellite history when he designed the antennas that put two breathtaking new innovations--ESPN and CNN--on the air.  

In 1981 he got the confidence to leave the corporate world and started his own design and manufacturing company. It did well--very well. At 48, Jim sold it and planned to lay back some and eventually retire.
But something happened in 1989.

Maybe it was the peace and beauty of the mountains in Asheville, North Carolina. Maybe it was a consulting gig or a long shower or walk in the hills--but whatever it was, it led him to the concept of designing satellite communications antennas that could be mounted on trucks--creating   news-gathering vehicles that could send live news feeds from anywhere. He  built the first vehicle-mounted antenna in his basement, liked what he wrought and remembering those treehouses and hotrods, launched a company called AvL Technologies--– Avl being the call letters for the Asheville airport. that’s how much he loved the place.

The company became legendary. I was proud that AvL Technologies was a regular sponsor of World Teleport Association’s annual Teleport Awards for Excellence Luncheon at Satellite. I used to tease him that he must enjoy paying for bad jokes. Always the gentleman, he said, “Your jokes are funny.”

Today if you walk around any city in the world or the lot of any trade show, you are likely to see a news organization's truck with an antenna on it pointed to the sky. When you do, think about Jim Oliver, the stuttering kid from Georgia in the USA who figured out how to get them up there to receive images from space.  

He remained painfully shy with a soft voice and a few years ago his voice began to fade and his health slipped.
In 2020 my Better Satellite World podcast at SSPI produced a series on "Risk" and we wanted Jim to talk to us. But he didn't do podcasts or many of these kind of things. Especially now that he was aging.

But he said if I did the interview, he would do it. I was flattered, prepared like hell and we had what turned out to be our most listened-to podcast.

The following year, he was inducted into the industry Hall of Fame along with journalist Peter B. de Selding and Kathy Leuders of NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. That same year he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease but kept an active life as a philanthropist.

James Luther Oliver lifted off for eternity on February 7, 2025. Ad astra Jim!

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Lou Zacharilla is the Director of Innovation for the Space & Satellite Professionals International (SSPI) (www.sspi.org) and host of The Better Satellite World podcast every Monday.He can be reached at:  LZacharilla@sspi.org