Lazarus Long the Scot

[The Wizard of BC]

Please remember. Lazarus Long himself was not a Scot. His birth name is Woodrow Wilson Smith.

[kiltedrennie]

Please remember. Lazarus Long himself was not a Scot. His birth name is Woodrow Wilson Smith.

True. I believe he wore the kilt for pragmatic reasons. Easier to hide a blaster holstered to your leg under a kilt!

[Rick Y]

I've come to this discussion late due to a week-long computer failure but I confess to being a Heinlein fan also. I possess nearly all of his novels including many of the ones he wrote in conjunction with Boy's Life magazine for Scouting youth. I do believe that his very last works seemed to show a decline in quality. This includes the final work which was finished by his friend Spider Robinson.

Interestingly, as I was reading a novel today I found the author used the phrase "to grok". That word, along with TANSTAASFL, seem to be permanent entries into our vocabulary.

[KiltedCodeWarrior]

Actually, For Us the Living was actually the first, or one of the first, novels Heinlein wrote and it was written in 1938. It was not published until after Heinlein's death, and was finished by Spider Robinson from an incomplete draft of Heinlein's. It has a combination of elements that appear in later published works by Heinlein.

[ring0]

Spider Robinson wrote For Us the Living's foreword, but is not a coauthor of that book. Spider is coauthor of Variable Star, an incomplete draft that was completed by Spider. Both novels were published after Heinlein died. The posthumous novels are interesting, but if someone hasn't yet read Heinlein's Hugo winning novels they should definitely read those first.

[KiltedCodeWarrior]

Spider Robinson wrote For Us the Living's foreword, but is not a coauthor of that book. Spider is coauthor of Variable Star, an incomplete draft that was completed by Spider. Both novels were published after Heinlein died. The posthumous novels are interesting, but if someone hasn't yet read Heinlein's Hugo winning novels they should definitely read those first.

Thanks for the clarification, I was quoting from memory, which has faded.......

[Hiburnicus]

It's been a year or so sinceI last picked up a Heinlein novel. My fav of fav's has always been Starship Troopers (the movie was a travesty), but the Lazarus Long stories are a close second. Lazarus may have been my first real exposure to the idea of kilts as well.
I first discovered Heilnlein when I was 13 or 14, and being an extremely ravenous reader I rapidly read all of his books. I wish I'd had a chance to meet the man, he must have been an interesting one to talk with. He died while I was still in High School...