[1][5] Horkheimer changed the planetarium show from a science lecture to a multimedia event including music, lights and narration.
[5] Sally Jessy Raphael portrayed the voice of the solar system in this show while Bill Hindman anchored the principal narration.
Horkheimer became the executive director of the Miami Museum of Science's Space Transit Planetarium in 1973 and stayed there for 35 years until his retirement in 2008.
[1] A 1982 viewing event for The Jupiter Effect inadvertently resulted in a nighttime riot due to media coverage beyond Horkheimer's control.
[10] In 1986, he helped promote an event for viewing Halley's Comet, traveling towards the equator aboard the supersonic airliner Concorde.
[3] Horkheimer was born with a congenital degenerative lung disease known as bronchiectasis and, as a result, suffered from chronic pain.
He also had a tombstone prepared and wrote his own epitaph, which reads:[3] "Keep Looking Up" was my life's admonition;I can do little else in my present position.Horkheimer died at his Florida home on the morning of August 20, 2010 at the age of 72.
His death was confirmed by his niece, Kathy, and Tony Lima, marketing vice president for the Miami Science Museum, Horkheimer's employer.
[4] An email circulated among the museum's staff, stated that they were "very saddened to have just learned that our resident Star Gazer, Jack Horkheimer, passed away today after being ill for quite some time.
[13] In the spring of 2010, Horkheimer was sued by a "John Doe" plaintiff, alleging recalled incidents of past sexual abuse recovered from repressed memories.