Variable Star

Robert Anson Heinlein was born on July 7, 1907 in Butler, Mo. The son of Rex Ivar and Bam Lyle Heinlein, Robert Heinlein had two older brothers, one younger brother, and three younger sisters. Moving to Kansas City, Mo., at a young age, Heinlein graduated from Central High School in 1924 and attended one year of college at Kansas City Community College. Following in his older brother's footsteps, Heinlein entered the Navel Academy in 1925. After contracting pulmonary tuberculosis, of which he was later cured, Heinlein retired from the Navy and married Leslyn MacDonald. Heinlein was said to have held jobs in real estate and photography, before he began working as a staff writer for Upton Sinclair's EPIC News in 1938. Still needing money desperately, Heinlein entered a writing contest sponsored by the science fiction magazine Thrilling Wonder Stories. Heinlein wrote and submitted the story "Life-Line," which went on to win the contest. This guaranteed Heinlein a future in writing. Using his real name and the pen names Caleb Saunders, Anson MacDonald, Lyle Monroe, John Riverside, and Simon York, Heinlein wrote numerous novels including For Us the Living, Methuselah's Children, and Starship Troopers, which was adapted into a big-budget film for Tri-Star Pictures in 1997. The Science Fiction Writers of America named Heinlein its first Grand Master in 1974, presented 1975. Officers and past presidents of the Association select a living writer for lifetime achievement. Also, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame inducted Heinlein in 1998. Heinlein died in 1988 from emphysema and other related health problems. Heinlein's remains were scattered from the stern of a Navy warship off the coast of California. Robert A. Heinlein is universally acknowledged as modern science fiction's greatest author. At his death, in 1987, he left a legacy of books and stories that has profoundly influenced the course of the field for generations. But one of Heinlein's most ambitious works was never finished. In 1955, he began work on a novel to be titledVariable Star, completing a detailed outline and making extensive notes for the book, only to set it aside to focus on other novels, includingTunnel in the Sky and the Hugo Award-winningDouble Star. For more than half a century, the work lay forgotten among Heinlein's papers. Then, on its rediscovery a few years ago, the Robert A. Heinlein Trust selected an author to finish the work. The author chosen for the project was, appropriately enough, a writerThe New York Times has hailed as "the New Robert Heinlein"--Spider Robinson, the Hugo and Nebula Award--winning author of such modern SF classics asStardance and "Melancholy Elephants." Faithful to the spirit of Heinlein's original vision, and laced with contemporary touches that will appeal to modern readers,Variable Star is a rare treat for the Grand Master's many fans. Profits from the book will help fund the annual $500,000 Heinlein Prize for innovation in commercial manned spaceflight, a goal Mr. Heinlein considered crucial to humanity's long-term survival.