The tendency to pigeonhole is enormous, and so often without apparent sense. Heinlein’s care with this scientific details has resulted in a completely unearned reputation as nothing but a nuts-and-bolts science fiction writer devoid of human interest, and his obvious preference for personal responsibility and freedom has brought him a label of right-winger. How anyone who wrote such stories as “Ordeal in Space,” about a man rescuing a kitten from the ledge of a skyscraper, “Delilah and the Space Riggers,” about the first woman construction worker in space, and even “The Man Who Sold the Moon,” a story about the first flight to the moon which doesn’t have a single scene set in space or on the moon itself, could be considered more interested in the science than the humanity is beyond me. And it’s a pretty peculiar right-winger who runs for office under the “End Poverty in California” ticket.

Thanks for … well, something. For reminding me about Heinlein? For introducing me to the human search engine, Marv? Not sure. But speaking of search engines, I read the book Friday with great envy for the amazing computer database to which she had access, and now I have an even better one sitting on my desk. For a kid who stayed home from school to watch Shepard’s first flight into space and who desperately wanted his very own UNIVAC, it’s a dream come true.