As the last Space Shuttle flight flew, I remembered this essay as well. I never saw a launch live, unfortunately. But 14 years later, this writing has stuck with me. Others have also written about the experience, but none (that I've seen) is quite as vivid. Unsolicited but related trivia: in Jay Barbree's "Live from Cape Canaveral", he mentions that the SS blast offs were more impressive than the Saturn V, which I found surprising, since the Saturn V could lift more.