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| CREDIT Where credit is due. Recently I was over at my son Mike's house and spotted the copy of Robert A. Heinlein's "Tunnel in the Sky" which I had given him. This is a book I read in Junior High School in the 1960's, and Heinlein had copyrighted in 1955. This work of science fiction had students training in off-world survival skills taking their final test on another planet. Travel was through a "Tunnel in the Sky" (think StarGate!). Something went wrong, and instead of a short test, they wound up marooned on this planet. Among the native species are "stobor", rabbit-like creatures that they named "Dopey Joe's". During mating season, the Dopey Joe's undergo a severe attitude change, becoming aggressive, violent and VERY dangerous. This is probably the genesis of the Rabid Rabbits. Few people have original ideas, most are inspired by something they have seen, heard or read elsewhere. David Gerrold, the author of one of the most popular Star Trek episodes, "The Trouble with Tribbles", had a similar problem. Going back over some old books, he suddenly realized that his "Tribbles" were inspired by "The Rolling Stones", a book that was copyrighted in 1952. By Robert A. Heinlein. Hey, if you're going to steal, steal from the best! And as I implied above, StarGate was probably inspired in part by Robert A. Heinlein also. And they might not have been aware of the connections. Both "Tunnel in the Sky" and "The Puppet Masters" are echoed in StarGate. Robert A. Heinlein was known as the Dean of Science Fiction. His works, though dated in some ways by scientific advances and discoveries, still make great reading. Heinlein concentrated on the people in the books, but always made sure to get the science and engineering as correct as he could. (Predicting the future is an iffy business at best) So I'm sitting down to re-read "Tunnel in the Sky", and enjoy the talent of Robert A. Heinlein once again. Who knows what other memories this will re-awaken? I highly recommend reading all of Heinlein's books. Who knows what current books, shows and ideas you will recognize as having had their start in the works of Heinlein? |

