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from the Pay-it-Forward-/-Grok-/-TANSTAAFL dept.
The Joplin Globe reports that Missouri lawmakers have inducted science fiction writer Robert Heinlein to the Hall of Famous Missourians to a cheering crowd of fans who call themselves "Heinlein's children."
State Rep. T.J. Berry says Heinlein encouraged others to "strive for the stars, for the moon" and "for what's next." Donors to the Heinlein Society and the Heinlein Prize Trust paid for a bronze bust of Heinlein, which will be displayed in the House Chamber at the Capitol where it will join 45 other Missourians honored with busts in the hall including Mark Twain, Dred Scott and Ginger Rogers, as well as more controversial Missourians such as Rush Limbaugh.
"Our devotion to this man must seem odd to those outside of the science fiction field, with spaceships and ray guns and bug-eyed monsters," Heinlein Society President Keith Kato said. "But to Heinlein's children, the writing was only the beginning of doing."
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday August 25 2016, @06:49PM
And there's this letter [tor.com] of Heinlein written on or prior to 1948:
I have deliberately selected a boy of Scotch-English pioneer ancestry, a boy whose father is a German immigrant, and a boy who is American Jewish. Having selected this diverse background they are then developed as American boys without reference to their backgrounds. You may run into an editor who does not want one of the young heroes to be Jewish. I will not do business with such a firm. The ancestry of the three boys is a “must” and the book is offered under those conditions. My interest was aroused in this book by the opportunity to show to kids what I conceive to be Americanism. The use of a diverse group . . . is part of my intent; it must not be changed. . . . I am as disinterested as a referee but I want to get over an object lesson in practical democracy.
"Diverse" here meaning no girls, among many other things, but it is still remarkable that a decade before your alleged antisemitism, Heinlein wrote sci fi with an explicit Jewish protagonist.
Personally, I think this shows the paltriness of an outlook that classifies people by their beliefs in racism. Even at Heinlein's worst, he still knew how to write an engaging story.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by mcgrew on Thursday August 25 2016, @08:56PM
You have to realize that during most of Heinlein's life almost every American was racist, no matter what race they were. We simply didn't know each other; I was five when I saw my first black man because America was segregated. Even as late as 1972 when I was in the service (I doubt anyone who's been in the military is bigoted) I was at a black friend's brother's apartment in Baltimore at a party and needed cigarettes. A girl there told me she'd take me to get some.
We walked down the street maybe three blocks and she said to give her the quarter to get them because I couldn't go in.
"Why not?"
"They'll kill you!"
Times have really changed in the last half century. For the better. Anyone who wants the "good old days" has a really bad memory.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org