ALT.SF4M

  Heinlein Centennial

   • Koslow
     26/05/2005 04:19:35 UTC

     www.HeinleinCentennial.com

     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

     Robert A. Heinlein Centennial Convention

     Set for July 2007 in Kansas City, Missouri

     May 24, 2005 - Plans were announced today for a major convention to be
     held

     in Kansas City, Missouri to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth
     of

     American author Robert A. Heinlein. Heinlein's birth on 7/7/1907 will be

     celebrated on the weekend of 7/6 - 7/8/2007, with a series of major
     events

     on the centennial day, Saturday, 7/7/2007.

     The Heinlein Centennial Convention will be a multi-faceted event

     celebrating Heinlein's life, works and far-reaching influence. More than

     3,000 professional and amateur attendees from throughout the US and
     around

     the world are expected to participate in distinct tracks focusing on

     Heinlein's contributions to science fiction, American literature, the

     American aerospace industry and commercial development of space, and
     film

     and television. Evaluation of Heinlein's overall impact on American
     culture

     and politics will be an integral part of all the tracks.

     The Hyatt Regency Crown Center & Westin Crown Center hotels, adjacent to

     the Crown Center complex in downtown Kansas City, have been selected as
     the

     site of the Heinlein Centennial Convention. All three venues will host

     various Convention events. The convention is sponsored and organized by

     Heinlein Centennial, Inc., a California nonprofit corporation.

     Robert A. Heinlein

     Robert Anson Heinlein, born in Butler, Missouri on July 7, 1907, became

     known by the 1940s as one of the premier writers of speculative fiction
     and

     was later widely credited as an influence on postwar American literature

     and the US space program. Heinlein grew up in Kansas City and later

     attended the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. He was

     commissioned with a background in naval engineering in 1929 and served
     as a

     line naval officer until his medical discharge in 1934.

     Heinlein worked at a variety of trades, including grassroots political

     work, until 1939, when he turned to writing as a profession. Within two

     years, he was one of the most highly regarded authors in science
     fiction.

     During World War II, he returned to naval aircraft engineering as a

     civilian, spending the war years at the Naval Air Experimental Station
     in

     Philadelphia.

     It was in the decades immediately following the war that Heinlein wrote
     the

     works for which he is most highly regarded, including the award-winning
     and

     controversial novels Starship Troopers (1959) and Stranger in a Strange

     Land (1961), the latter of which introduced the word "grok" to the
     language

     and strongly influenced the counterculture of the 1960s. He also wrote

     twelve novels for young adults that helped redefine and refine the
     notion

     of "juvenile literature," and some 40 other important novels and

     book-length works. Several of his novels have been turned into feature

     films, with his other works in frequent option for development.

     Robert Heinlein died on May 8, 1988 in Carmel, California, leaving a

     substantial literary and philosophical legacy that was managed by his
     widow

     Virginia until her death in 2003, and is now managed by the Heinlein
     Prize

     Trust (www.heinleinprize.com), among whose aims is to continue
     Heinlein's

     lifetime championing of space progress by presenting the US$500,000

     "Heinlein Prize" for advances in commercial space development. Heinlein

     also left millions of readers and admirers worldwide, with his works

     translated into most of the world's major languages. Seventeen years
     after

     his death, the majority of his published works are still in print and

     selling briskly.

     Much more than a "science fiction writer," Robert Heinlein was an
     important

     and influential American philosopher and thinker. His impact can be

     discerned in postwar through present-day American fiction, current

     political circles, and perhaps most importantly, on the US space
     program.

     His writings from 1945 through 1960 are credited with influencing a

     generation of engineers that went on to build Mercury, Gemini, Apollo
     and

     the Space Shuttle. Near the end of his life, he was still involved with

     space policy, contributing to discussions on the military uses of space.

     Heinlein Centennial, Inc.

     Heinlein Centennial Inc. is a nonprofit organization formed to help
     further

     understanding and appreciation of Robert Heinlein's contributions to

     literature, aerospace development, politics and society. The Heinlein

     Centennial Convention is the keystone of its initial efforts, which also

     include plans to develop documentary material about Heinlein's life and

     work, and to help scholars and researchers build on the existing legacy
     of

     understanding. Press and all interested persons are invited to add

     www.HeinleinCentennial.com to their regular browsing lists, as
     information

     and content will be updated and expanded continually over the next two

     years.

     Board Chairman William H. Patterson Jr

     (B***.*********n@H*****************l.com) is in his second term as
     Heinlein

     Scholar at University of California, Santa Cruz, where Heinlein's
     working

     materials are archived. He is the co-author of The Martian Named Smith:

     Critical Perspectives on Robert A. Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land

     (Nitrosyncretic Press, 2001), and the official Heinlein biographer, with

     the first volume of the work now in press. He currently resides in Santa

     Cruz, California.

     Board Secretary/Treasurer James Gifford

     (J****.*******d@H*****************l.com) has been involved in the study
     of

     Heinlein's work for more than a decade. He is the founder and principal
     of

     Nitrosyncretic Press (www.nitrosyncretic.com) and the author of the Hugo

     Award nominee Robert A. Heinlein: A Reader's Companion (Nitrosyncretic

     Press, 2000), the definitive annotated bibliography of Heinlein's works.
     He

     resides in Sacramento, California.

     Also on the Convention Executive Committee, which is responsible for

     shaping the Centennial Convention's events and content, are Alan Koslow,

     M.D., of Des Moines, Iowa (A***.******w@H*****************l.com) and
     Peter

     Scott of Victoria, British Columbia
     (P****.*****t@H*****************l.com).

     An extraordinary array of support people, celebrities, scholars and

     engineers are involved with the development of the Heinlein Centennial

     Convention. An expanded list of involved parties, chairpersons and

     speakers, as well as a preliminary schedule of events, will be released

     soon.