Reply #9: In the beginning, Robert Heinlien was not that good either but ... [View All]

[mntleo2]

He was quite a character and got better as he got older. I met him once, what a funny man.

But I digress. Here is what I would do: Put his novel on CD and then copy them and pass them around to your relatives and old friends. I am saying this because WAY before computers, my aunt did the same thing with our great-grandfather's memoirs. They are not the fanciest written accounts in the world but to this day a lost one in a "move" or fire, etc., is requested over and over, even by my grandchildren, who use it in class and for reports, etc! He was the next generation of settler from his parents who staked out land in the Midwest, he was in the Oklahoma Land Rush, he describes the terror of a flash flood and how he and his brother had to go for supplies that took two days on horseback.

The point is perhaps the story is a little "dated" but it will not matter to the younger members and perhaps to those who knew him and loved him. This comes from a relative who tells something that is in a way "straight from his voice to your ears". It is almost better than a recording because his voice will come out loud and clear as to who he was. This is important for family especially to hear, because in many ways, they will hear themselves.

It will be passed around and used to show the next generations what "Uncle Art" wrote and they can be printed out, put in book form and some family artist could even illustrate them, etc. Who knows? Maybe someday one of the relatives will be inspired to become the next Robert Heinlien or Arthur C. Clark. Neither of them were the greatest novelists when they began ~ and I take that from Heinlien's own mouth who told me he was terrible in the beginning. Yet this man went on to weave stories so amazing that did you know, every single story is connected to all his other books and short stories?

This might be a way to preserve them AND inspire the next generation. Keep the original in a safe place. It is precious!

Hope this helps

Love
Cat in Seattle