…Surely, I could load all the answering onto Ginny; she would hold still for it. But as long as we aren’t missing meals I see no reason why she should give up what she wants to do for this purpose-she’s carrying her full load anyhow…
November 20, 1970: Virginia Heinlein to Lurton Blassingame
Yes, sir. We will be careful with graduate students. We answer all letters except those which go into the “screwball” file, the ones from people who are more or less obviously crazy.
EDITOR ‘s NOTE: We went over to the use of form letters, a checkoff list. There were several different form letters. But I found myself adding handwritten P. S. ‘s to make them more personal, which consumed even more time. Arthur Clarke was shocked when we told him we were using form letters, but not too much later, he was using them, too.
EDITOR ‘s NOTE: Lurton saw little of the fan mail, but occasionally a letter arrived addressed to him. In this case, he saw some merit, more than usual, in a letter from a graduate student in English. So he counseled caution in dealing with those.
There is no copy extant of the checkoff letters, but when letters were answered on computers, here is how they ran:
An ever-increasing flood of mail has forced Mr. Heinlein to choose between writing letters and writing fiction. I have taken over for him, but he reads each letter sent to him and checks the answer.
Four or five requests come in each week for help in class assignments, term papers, theses, or dissertations. We can’t cope with so many and have quit trying.
Sincerely,
Virginia Heinlein
[Mrs. Robert A. Heinlein]
Even since Robert’s death, fan mail still comes in asking me to answer questions about his work.
TIME WASTERS
November 3, 1951: Robert A. Heinlein to Lurton Blassingame
…In addition to the above, I’ve let myself be roped into going to Denver to speak to the Colorado Authors’ League. I find myself in a running fight to keep my time from being nibbled away by such secondary activities. I avoid such things as much as possible, but too often I get backed into a corner.
January 27, 1952: Robert A. Heinlein to Lurton Blassingame
I have been asked to be a guest speaker on Edward R. Murrow’s CBS program, “This I Believe.” I’m flattered but am thinking of turning it down; I don’t relish getting on a national hookup and doing an emotional striptease. Furthermore, such things take me away from my regular work by distracting my mind, sometimes for days, from story. No mention was made of a fee and I think it’s a sustaining program with the guest speakers appearing just for glory. I mention this because you may think the “glory” important enough that I should do it anyhow. I won’t give them an answer until I hear from you.
August 21, 1952: Robert A. Heinlein to Lurton Blassingame
…This entire year of ‘521 have found frustrating. Today I tried to figure out exactly where the time had gone, since I have no copy to show for it. I can account for every day and don’t see how, in most cases, I could have done anything about it, but that fact writes no stories. Believe me, Lurton, I have not loafed this year, but my time has been eaten away…operation, convalescence…cutting Rolling Stones, skating nationals, mechanics in the house three times wasting a month and a half, two unpaid writing jobs, two unpaid radio appearances, some unpaid speaking engagements, Arthur C. Clarke-one week, the George O. Smiths-two weeks, other houseguests totaling perhaps a week, shopping for a new automobile…death of a close friend-one week, two weddings where I was involved and could not refuse my time without being a heel, innumerable visits from readers who were polite enough to write and ask to see me, a novel started and aborted, same for a short, the damned telephone ringing and ringing and ringing and myself the only person in the house…and finally a trip to Yellowstone and the Utah parks. That last I could have skipped but Ginny deserved a rest and I needed one, even if I hadn’t been accomplishing anything. All of the above adds up to about time enough to answer mail and read proofs. Some of these things you may feel I could have avoided-well, close up to them, they could not have been avoided. The telephone situation we have finally licked by putting a bell in the garage where