Aunt Mikey
My Aunt Mikey passed away last night. We've known it was coming for the past week; she'd suffered a brain stem stroke last Friday. Uncle George when I talked to him before our trip seemed to be holding up well, sad, yet pragmatic about what was happening.
We talked about my books on the phone. I told him again that my writing career was due to him and Mikey. One summer for my birthday - I was 12 I think - they had bought me two books: Heinlein's Have Spacesuit, Will Travel and The Rolling Stones. I couldn't tell you a thing about the latter, but the first fired my imagination and made me think about things I hadn't thought about before. Kip was solving problems! With a slide rule. I was mesmerized. That one book did more to shape my future as an engineer and as a science fiction writer than any other thing in the universe.
Suddenly, because of Uncle George and Aunt Mikey, instead of being a listless youth, I had a passion. Have imagination, will travel!
I know Uncle George had read my books, but I don't know if Aunt Mikey did. I'll have to ask at the funeral on Tuesday. I hope she did. I hope she saw what she had started.
It's clear now to whom my next book will be dedicated.
Paul
We talked about my books on the phone. I told him again that my writing career was due to him and Mikey. One summer for my birthday - I was 12 I think - they had bought me two books: Heinlein's Have Spacesuit, Will Travel and The Rolling Stones. I couldn't tell you a thing about the latter, but the first fired my imagination and made me think about things I hadn't thought about before. Kip was solving problems! With a slide rule. I was mesmerized. That one book did more to shape my future as an engineer and as a science fiction writer than any other thing in the universe.
Suddenly, because of Uncle George and Aunt Mikey, instead of being a listless youth, I had a passion. Have imagination, will travel!
I know Uncle George had read my books, but I don't know if Aunt Mikey did. I'll have to ask at the funeral on Tuesday. I hope she did. I hope she saw what she had started.
It's clear now to whom my next book will be dedicated.
Paul