Robert A. Heinlein: A Biographical Sketch

The Heinlein Society ^ | 1999 | Bill Patterson

[JenB]

Here... look at this. A Hymn Before Battle. It's the entire book, online, free of charge from the publishers.

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

By the way, great nickname! I read every Tom Swift, Jr. book while I was growing up, and I have most of them in my collection today! :)

[Shooter 2.5]

Thank you. I couldn't remember the name even after I was corrected. My son bought the books and we started reading them about 7 months ago. I'm reading "The Number of the Beast" and I bought "The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathon Hoag" and "Farnham's Freehold" today.

[Oberon]

For me, it was Starship Troopers.

Long live Lazarus Long! Oh, wait... That's redundant, isn't it...

[Doc On The Bay]

Heinlein Always wrote that Redheads were "Special!" Many of "us" Agree! Heinlein was one of the "True Prophets" of our Age! Doc

[Oberon]

I confess... the very first book I ever purchased for myself was a Ray Bradbury collection titled Golden Apples of the Sun. It was an Avon paperback, and it cost me 75 cents. From then on, there was no turning back.

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

Very cool! I have it bookmarked, thanks, and will read it!

[narses]

Thanks for the post. As a longtime RAH fan I enjoyed the read. As a Catholic I am "ping-ing" the FR Catholic Caucus to ask whether any others have been fans? If so, have they seen or read anything about an anti-Catholic bias in the works of RAH?

[KC_for_Freedom]

I remember as a college sophmore reading several Heinlein novels and remarking that he was one SF author who did not lace his novels with sex. Then my mentor handed me Stranger in a Strange Land....

[VermiciousKnid]

The only direct reference to the Catholic Church that I can remember was in Stranger In A Strange Land, where RAH (in the form of Jubal Harshaw) mentions that he prefers the quiet dignity of the Catholics to the raucousness of some other denominations.

He also gives a nod to the character of the Papal Nuncio, who appears as a delegate on the committee discussing the Man From Mars. I always thought RAH (again, as Jubal Harshaw) considered the Nuncio a wise character who knew the political ropes very well indeed.

Other than that, it always seemed to me that RAH didn't like organized religion in ANY form. Regards,

[VermiciousKnid]

LOL...I bet THAT was quite a wake-up call!

Regards,

[Dajjal]

Only read a little, but Heinlein is great!

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

A ping for others who may be interested!

[Quietly]

Except for the early Mars stuff, which was beneath him, Bradury with his ordinary midwestern evenings, after supper, with crickets chirping, that suddenly turned weird, oh Lord. That is the stuff of dreams, or nightmares. Bradbury is truly a class by himself, and has no equal.

I mean that literally, no pun intended. There is no genre that Ray Bradbury fits in. There's nothing "Bradburyan." He had a mind so unique that no one can imposturate it. It's impossible to be inspired by Bradbury to write "Bradburyan" fiction. There are few writers that can't be impersonated, because everything he writes is so unique, but so uniquely him. Ray Bradbury is one.

[philman_36]

I'm trying to illustrate to you the trivial quality of your observations.
And your observations are astute? HA!
All you've done is repeatedly make the same inane remark and brag.

[FreedomPoster]

>>Larry Niven (an SF giant in his own right).

I heartily recommend both Niven's work and the Niven & Pournelle collaborations. Both were friends of Heinlein. "The Mote in God's Eye" is a fabulous first contact novel.

[Wonder Warthog]

"Sluggy Freelance"

Just started looking at it. I can see how it could be addictive. Just a touch weird, but entertainingly so.

[Domestic Church]

One of his brothers was my parish priest. He was very gifted too.

[hollywood]

No, I never met RAH, but I certainly heard about him while growing up. I was born and raised in Philly, but RAH had already left there and headed to CA. My mom read all of his books. However, I am not a big sci-fi fan. Also, apparently I type faster than I think; my grandfather was a cousin, not a brother, of RAH. So, that would make me a 1st cousin, twice removed (?) of RAH.

[m1911]

Thanks
On this trip I brought Future Histories, and I bought Expanded Universe and Requiem. With all that credit at Ace, I'm going to have to keep checking, the collection is still way shy of complete :)