Heinlein Fans here?

[Old Hippie]

Easily on the all-time top ten list!

Right up there with "Stop that and go wash your hands."

:ootd:

[Standard]

I had just returned to Hawaii from my first tour in Viet-Nam and needed to spend some time with normal people so went to walk along Waikiki beach.

Sitting on the beach by himself was RAH. So I went over to a small kiosk nearby, bought two cups of coffee. I sat one down next to him and quietly sat down beside him. As I sat down I pulled out the worn and dogeared copy of TEFL that was in my back pocket and laid it between us. I didn't say anything, but sat there with him and watched the girls walk by for about a half hour.

After a while I got up, picked up my book, held it up and said to him, "Thank you for this".

He then said to me "Thank you for being quiet and not pestering me", pulled out a small notebook and wrote his home address and phone no. in it. He said that if I was ever in his neck of the woods we could share another cup of coffee.

About six months later I found myself in California on medical leave so called him up. He gave me directions to his house and I took a taxi out.
He invited me in and we sat in his kitchen drinking coffee and talking about the world, the military, and his writings.
It was one of the afternoons that will live forever in my memory.
As I was leaving he reached onto a bookshelf and pulled down a copy of SIASL. signed it and handed it to me.

That book is one of my most prized possesions. The memories of the man himself make the reading and re-reading of his works all that more special.
Much of who I am today comes from the eloquent way he put thoughts down on paper.

What a great story Steve. I'm sure that RAH genuinely appriciated having company without the constant badgering about autographs, his next book, etc., etc. It's nice to know that you were able to take the time to know the man, and not just the myth. That is something that we should all strive for in our lives.

[Erisianmonkey]

The redhead and I are both big RAH fans. Indeed, we have a shelf in one of our bookcase that is overstuffed with nothing but Heinlein.

I don't have a story as cool as Steve's, but I was fortunate enough to have had correspondence with Ginny before she died. A marvelous lady, and undoubtedly the reason Robert held on as long as he did.

Edit to add: Favorite RAH quote: A rational anarchist believes that concepts such as 'state' and 'society' and 'government' have no existence save as physically exemplified in the acts of self-responsible individuals. He believes that it is impossible to shift blame, share blame, distribute blame. . . as blame, guilt, responsibility are matters taking place inside human beings singly and nowhere else. But being rational, he knows that not all individuals hold his evaluations, so he tries to live perfectly in an imperfect world. . . aware that his effort will be less than perfect yet undismayed by self-knowledge of self-failure.

[Kid Cossack]

Specialization is for insects.

[Dixiecat]

I too love SF. My father has a small library with the SF classics and I made my way through it. It was the opening to new worlds, new ideas and big adventures. I loved the Foundation series, and all the Robot books, and the original Dune series. I found though, that RAH books were easier reading, more 'immersive' if that makes sense. While I loved each one, the book I most remember is Friday. He truly was a gifted writer.

[Brian Boru]

A few of my favorite lines from the "Notebooks" in TEFL:
Beware of strong drink, it makes you shoot at tax collectors... and miss.
Enjoy life, take big bites, moderation is for monks.
Always place your clothes and weapons where you can find them easyly in the dark.

I grew up on RAH, I went through every SF book in my ele.school collection and went on from there. I enjoyed it then and I still do now.