Free Republic

“The Melville of science fiction” had a hand in bringing 1968’s most technologically advanced potato chip to the world.Plenty of writers have made certain foods or drinks iconic: Marcel Proust had his Madeleines, Hemingway his namesake Daiquiri. C.S. Lewis made kids who’d never tried it crave Turkish Delight. But there may be only one writer who helped create an iconic snack available in grocery stores everywhere: Gene Wolfe. This largely unheralded genius allowed generations worldwide to enjoy the Pringles Potato Crisp. How Gene Wolfe helped create Pringles Before he became a critically acclaimed writer of the Book of the...

The science fiction and fantasy community has lost a beloved icon. We are extremely sad to report that author and SFWA Grand Master Gene Wolfe passed away on Sunday, April 14, 2019 after his long battle with heart disease. He was 87.Gene Wolfe was born in New York on May 7, 1931. He studied at Texas A&M for a few years before dropping out and fighting in the Korean War. After his return to the US he finished his degree at the University of Houston. He was an engineer, and worked as the editor of the professional journal Plant Engineering....

So much of science fiction's core topics intersect with war, one way or the other. Rapid social change and technological innovation both get supercharged during wartime, and some of our greatest explorers are also warriors. So it's not surprising that many of science fiction's most well-known authors served in the military at some point — especially during the era when we had a compulsory draft. But how did serving in the military shape these writers' books? Here's a look at 15 of the authors who served in the armed forces, and how their work reflects that experience.