Ye Olde Rocket Forum - View Single Post

Quote:

Originally Posted by pterodactyl

Stine was very close to Heinlein, so the Flat Cat name has an obvious explanation of which I was unaware until now. I thought it was a Grumman aircraft reference; they named all their aircraft after types of 'Cat'.

I was an avid reader of both men's works when I was a young boy --- my first science fiction book was "Starship Through Space" by Stine (under his Lee Correy pseudonym). My favorite Heinlein story has always been "Have Space Suit, Will Travel".

It was not until 30-plus years later that I learned that those two books, from my two favorite authors, were actually dedicated to each other!

Stine's Starship states, "To Ginny and Bob", while Heinlein's "Space Suit" is dedicated "For Harry and Barbara Stine".

I wonder what RAH's opinion of model rocketry was? I don't believe it was ever mentioned in any of his books...and the two books mentioned above were published in 1954 and 1958, respectively, well before the "launch" of our hobby. Ah, well. Not the most earth-shattering of questions, but it would be interesting, in this "historical" thread, if anyone out there had ever asked G. Harry about his interactions with the Grand Master of SF.