[Wonder Warthog]

"The point though is not to mark the beginnings of sci fi but to identify Welles as a major influence on Heinlein."

No doubt. Fortunately, Heinlein threw off said influence and found his own voice. One thing that was pellucidly clear...Heinlein was an American patriot.

[Rockingham]

I recall reading an interview with Heinlein in the early 1980s that appeared in Human Events no less, an obscure small circulation conservative tabloid. And the conflict with the Bugs in Starship Troopers seemed to parallel our existential struggle with Communism.