Hello, Family and Friends!
Those of you who know me know that one of my most enduring (and not necessarily endearing) traits is that I'm a voracious reader. To me, reading is almost an addiction. At any given time, I am usually reading three or four books...not at the same time, just at different times of the day. I usually have my 'car' book that I keep in the glove box of my primary mode of transportation, my 'meal' book that I only read at mealtimes, and my 'bed' book that I use to help me get to sleep. In addition to these three, there is usually a fourth 'work' book that I take with me so I have something to read during down times at whatever job I'm pursuing. And I don't stick to any particular genre. As I sit here typing, I am surrounded at my desk by works of fantasy, philosophy, religion, current events, biography, history, and social commentary. On the shelves across the room from my desk, I can see works by Victor Hugo, Ellery Queen, Stephen R. Donaldson, C. J. Cherryh, Charles Dickens, Alexander Hamilton, Amity Shlaes, James Madison, Piers Anthony, John Jay, Isaac Asimov, Glenn Beck, Alexander Dumas, Arthur C. Clark, E. E. Cummings, and, well, you get the idea. I'm well-read.
But of everything I've read throughout my life...out of every genre and style...there has been one author that has had the most profound impact on my life. I didn't mention him in the previous list of authors because, as anyone who has ever visited the den of chaos that is my home can probably tell you, there is at least one of this author's works on every bookcase, shelf, and desk I use throughout the house. This man became the voice for my thoughts and beliefs before I honed the skills and gained the confidence that now allow me to organize them into written form myself. Right about now, my immediate family is seriously considering moving on to something else, thinking to themselves, "Oh, God! He's going on about him again, isn't he!" Yes, ladies, this post is about Robert Anson Heinlein.
At this point, I think its only fair in the interest of full disclosure to let you know that I am a regular member of The Heinlein Society. Between Wikipedia and the Society's own extensive biography on Mr. Heinlein located at http://www.heinleinsociety.org/rah/biographies.html , his life has been thoroughly chronicled, so I won't go into any great detail on his 'speeds and feeds', but here are some of the highlights...
At the time of his birth on 7 July 1907, Robert's family was living with his maternal grandfather, Dr. Alva Lyle, in Butler, MO. A few months later, his family moved to Kansas City, MO where Robert lived until he was admitted to the U.S. Naval Academy in June 1925. In 1929, Midshipman First Class Heinlein graduated 20th in a class of 243 and was commissioned with the rank of Ensign. While at Annapolis, Robert was one of the top-ranked fencers in the U.S., as well as an excellent student. In fact, he actually stood 5th in academics in his class, but disciplinary issues brought his overall rank down to 20th. Unfortunately, Heinlein's Naval career was cut short when he was retired in August 1934 as "Medically Unfit for Service - Totally and Permanently Disabled." After serving three years aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Lexington, Heinlein was assigned to the destroyer U.S.S. Roper. Because the smaller Roper was less stable and constantly rolling, Ensign Heinlein developed chronic seasickness. Within a year, his weakened condition resulted in him contracting pulmonary tuberculosis, thus ending his Naval career.
I mentioned his home and his discharge because these two things would go on to color nearly all his writings over the years. If his first choice of career, the Navy, hadn't been denied him, he probably would never have started writing. But once he did start writing, his mid-American 'Bible Belt' upbringing is reflected in most of his major characters. Additionally, the character of Dr. Ira Johnson, the maternal grandfather of one of his most popular characters, Lazarus Long nee Woodrow Wilson Smith, bore a strong resemblance to his own maternal grandfather, Dr. Alva Lyle; and it is generally accepted that most of his strongest female characters were based on a woman he may never have met if he had continued in active duty with the Navy, and who became the great love of his life...his third wife, Virginia Gerstenfeld Heinlein.
My first exposure to Robert Heinlein was in 1978 when I picked up a copy of The Past Through Tomorrow at a used book sale. The cover caught my eye...an old man in a primitive-looking space suit, sitting on the helmet, apparently on the Moon, looking fondly at the Earth. That, plus it only cost a Quarter. When I started reading it, I was blown away. The Past Through Tomorrow was a collection of Heinlein's short stories and novellas that make up what John Campbell once termed "Heinlein's Future History." Campbell had organized them in chronological order based on where they occur on this fictional time line rather than the order in which they were written. I was swept up in the richness of the universe Heinlein had created. Every single story in this collection was a blend of social commentary, speculative fiction, and science fantasy. Heinlein had taken very plausible situations, dropped in characters the reader could care about, and placed them in a futuristic setting so that he could turn the situation about and examine it from all directions. It was brilliant! There was even a short story called The Roads Must Roll that anticipated the creation of the Interstate Highway System and could have been a metaphor for the 1974 long haul truckers' strike, even though it had been written 1940.
After finishing The Past Through Tomorrow, I was hungry to read more of Heinlein's works. I quickly went through Red Planet, Starship Troopers, and Glory Road. The more I read, the more I found that Heinlein seemed to possess an uncanny ability to see 'the big picture' when it came to the effects a new technology would have on civilization. He didn't just stop at the obvious 'primary' and 'secondary' effects, but drilled down to and examined the corollary effects that most 'experts' never even considered. For example:
The Automated Assembly Line process allowed Henry Ford to mass-produce inexpensive automobiles >>> The widespread use of inexpensive, mass-produced automobiles led to the disappearance of the horse as a common sight in America >>> Most Americans now have almost no real experience with horses and do not have even basic knowledge and skills that were considered commonplace just a single generation before mine >>> The widespread use of the automobile also makes society more 'mobile', allowing people to travel further distances in a shorter period of time >>> Social mores begin to loosen up as people realize that the automobile allows them to get away from those who would gossip about their behavior >>> Families begin to spread out around the country as the automobile makes it easier for them to return home for visits more often where previous generations almost never traveled more than twenty miles from their home over their entire lifetimes >>> 'Urban sprawl' begins as people begin to realize they no longer have to live and work in the same neighborhood, but instead can 'commute' to work.
This is just one example of how Heinlein examined in his works the way a single technological advance had effects that branched out and spread through several generations. Other topics he foresaw and examined while they were barely beyond the theoretical stage included (but weren't limited to) the safe generation of nuclear power, the doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction that would proliferate during the Cold War, and the intellectual and cultural gap that could (and most likely will) occur between the early settlers of extraterrestrial colonies (such as the Moon or Mars) and the 'groundhogs' who remain behind, just to name a few. His insights into the workings of society as it related to its environment and the technologies used were almost prophetic.
However, no matter how prophetic his insights may have seemed, Heinlein was first and foremost an engineer, by both temperament and training. His engineering skills led him to either postulate or even invent mechanical devices such as 'waldoes' and the waterbed in his stories. In fact, because Heinlein had described waterbeds in detail in three different stories (Beyond This Horizon, Double Star, and Stranger in a Strange Land) decades before, an application submitted by Charles Hall in 1968 for a patent for the water bed was denied. Heinlein even commented on the waterbed in his 1980 story collection, Expanded Universe:
"I designed the waterbed during years as a bed patient in the middle thirties; a pump to control water level, side supports to permit one to float rather than simply lying on a not very soft water filled mattress. Thermostatic control of temperature, safety interfaces to avoid all possibility of electric shock, waterproof box to make a leak no more important than a leaky hot water bottle rather than a domestic disaster, calculation of floor loads (important!), internal rubber mattress and lighting, reading, and eating arrangements—an attempt to design the perfect hospital bed by one who had spent too damn much time in hospital beds."
Robert and Ginny Heinlein didn't limit their social activism to fiction. As I was immersing myself in his writings, I found a 1958 newspaper article at the library written by the Heinleins and entitled, "Who are the Heirs of Patrick Henry?", in response to a full-page ad placed by the National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy (a sub-committee of the American Socialist Party) calling for the U.S. to unilaterally end nuclear testing. What became known as the "Patrick Henry Campaign" was rooted in the outrage they felt at what they believed to be an irresponsible policy blunder at the height of the Cold War. It was refreshing to see an opinion that I had felt but could not vocalize so succinctly put into words. I began to see a kindred spirit in Heinlein. Philosophically and politically, he became my mentor.
As I got to know the man behind the tales, I came to see a passionate, dedicated man who was deeply in love with his soul mate, and for whom words such as 'duty,' 'honor,' and 'integrity' were more than a passing fad. I saw a gifted man who, even though he had been a Socialist in his youth, was open-minded and intelligent enough to allow his beliefs to grow and evolve as he gained life experience and identified the morally-bankrupt fallacies of the socialist philosophy. Heinlein helped to cement within me a love of the United States as created by our Founders and a sense of wonder at the natural beauty of our world and the Universe in general. He also helped me to learn to keep an open mind and view things from all different angles, and not just through a narrow tunnel of dogma created by the demagogues in power. Above all, he provided the mortar for the foundation laid by my parents, the foundation of principles by which I live my life to this day. At the end of the day, Heinlein made it cool in an era of moral relativism to believe, "...that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness..."
So, on this, the 102nd anniversary of his birth, I felt moved to share with you, my friends and family, the reason I sometimes seem obsessed with Robert A. Heinlein. In my humble opinion, Heinlein's keen intelligence, prophetic insight, easy way of communicating with his readers, and his belief in something larger than himself make him the greatest author of the Twentieth Century. If you have never read Heinlein, then I encourage you to pick up a copy of either The Past Through Tomorrow or Expanded Universe and introduce yourself to him. As you read, look beyond the gadgets, the fantastic settings, and the technical jargon. Allow yourself to experience the plot and the characters. If you do, I feel confident that you will find the joy in his writings that I always have.
Until next time, best regards...
© 2009 James P. Rice
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