Heinlein, Robert A – Expanded Universe

Robert and Virginia Heinlein 1958 address- 1776 Mesa Avenue

Colorado Springs, Colorado

1980 address- (Care Spectrum Literary Agency

60 East 42nd Street

New York City, New York 10017)

President Eisenhower, The White House

Washington, D.C.

Dear Mr. President:

We know that you are being pressured to stop our nuclear weapons tests, turn

our missile and space program over to the U.N., and in other ways to weaken our

defenses.

We urge you to stand steadfast.

We want America made supremely strong and we are resolved to accept all

burdens necessary to that end. We ask for total effort-nuclear testing, research,

and development, highest priorities for rocketry, sterner education, anything that

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is needed. We are ready to pay higher taxes, forego luxuries, work harder.

Ic this we pledge our lives our fortunes, and our sacred honor.

Respectfully yours,

(names)

(address)

AFTERWORD

When the soi-disant “SANE” committee published its page ad in Colorado

Springs (and many other cities) on 5 April 1958, I was working on THE HERETIC (later

to be published as STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND). I stopped at once and for several

weeks Mrs. Heinlein and I did nothing but work on this “Patrick Henry” drive. We

published our ad in three newspapers, encouraged its publication elsewhere, mailed

thousands of reprints, spoke before countless meetings, collected and mailed to the

White House thousands of copies of the letter above- always by registered mail-no

acknowledgement of any sort was ever received, not even in response to “Return

Receipt Requested.”

Then the rug was jerked out from under us; by executive order Mr. Eisenhower

canceled all testing without requiring mutual inspection. (The outcome of that is

now history; when it suited him, Khrushchev resumed testing with no warning and with

the dirtiest bombs ever set off in the atmosphere.)

I was stunned by the President’s action. I should not have been as I knew

that he was a political general long before he entered politics-stupid, all front,

and dependent on his staff. But that gets me the stupid hat, too; I had learned

years earlier that many politicians (not all!) will do anything to get elected. . .

and Adlai Stevenson had him panting.

Presently I resumed writing-not STRANGER but STARSHIP TROOPERS.

The “Patrick Henry” ad shocked ’em; STARSHIP TROOPERS outraged ’em. I still

can’t see how that book got a Hugo. It continues to get lots of nasty “fan” mail and

not much favorable fan mail.. . but it sells and sells and sells and sells, in

eleven languages. It doesn’t slow down-four new contracts just this year. And yet I

almost never hear of it save when someone wants to chew me out over it. I don’t

understand it.

The criticisms are usually based on a failure to understand

simple indicative English sentences, couched in sivnple words -especially when

the critics are professors ofEnglish, as they often are. (A shining counter

exa;nple, a professor who can read and understand English, is one at Colorado

College-a professor of history.)

We have also some professors ofEnglish who write science fiction but I do

not know of one who formally reviewed or criticized STARSHIP TROOPERS. However, I

have gathered a strong impression over the years that professors of English who

write and sell science fiction average being much more grammatical and much more

literate than their colleagues who do not (cannot?) write saleable fiction.

Their failures to understand English are usually these:

1. “Veteran” does not mean in English dictionaries or in this novel solely a

person who has served in military forces. I concede that in commonest usage today it

means a war veteran.. . but no one hesitates to speak of a veteran fireman or

veteran school teacher. In STARSHIP TROOPERS it is stated flatly and more than once

that nineteen out of twenty veterans are not military veterans. Instead, 95% of

voters are what we call today “former members of federal civil service.”

Addendum: The volunteer is not given a choice. He/she can’t win a franchise

by volunteering for what we call civil service. He volunteers. . . then for two

years plusor-minus he goes where he is sent and does what he is told to do. If he is