Educated at the University of Missouri and the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Heinlein served as a naval officer for 5 years before developing pulmonary tuberculosis which led to his medical discharge. He then studied physics for a short time at UCLA followed by a number of different jobs. In 1939, he published his first science fiction story in Astounding Science Fiction magazine, and by the outbreak of World War II had published over 30 stories. During the war he worked at the Naval Air Experimental Station in Philadelphia.Following the war, Heinlein continued his prolific output and became one of a handful of the most popular SF writers. He was awarded the prestigious Hugo Award on four occasions and was named the first Science Fiction Writers Grand Master in 1974. Heinlein was also a master of juvenile SF and spent a number of years producing some of the best work in that genre, including Starship Troopers in 1959. During the 1960s and 1970s, Heinlein wrote some of his most important work including Stranger in a Strange Land (1961) and Time Enough for Love (1973). He also became an outspoken critic of organized religion during this time. During the 1970s, Heinlein suffered from ill health, including a bout of peritonitis which almost killed him. Returning to his writing in 1980, he produced five more novels before his death. Many of Heinlein's works were published posthumously from previously unpublished works. His main works include Let There Be Light (1940), Rocket Ship Galileo (1947), The Green Hills of Earth (1951), The Puppet Masters (1951), Double Star (1956), Have Space Suit - Will Travel (1958), Glory Road (1963), The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (1966), The Number of the Beast (1980), To Sail Beyond the Sunset (1987) and Grumbles From the Grave (1989 Posthumous). |
