{"id":4872,"date":"2022-08-20T11:52:02","date_gmt":"2022-08-20T16:52:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lfs.org\/blog\/?p=4872"},"modified":"2023-02-24T17:01:01","modified_gmt":"2023-02-24T23:01:01","slug":"slavery-liberty-personal-responsibility-and-legacy-the-heinlein-trust-and-heinlein-society-acceptance-speeches-for-prometheus-hall-of-fame-winner-citizen-of-the-galaxy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/slavery-liberty-personal-responsibility-and-legacy-the-heinlein-trust-and-heinlein-society-acceptance-speeches-for-prometheus-hall-of-fame-winner-citizen-of-the-galaxy\/","title":{"rendered":"Slavery, liberty, personal responsibility and legacy: The Heinlein Trust and Heinlein Society acceptance speeches for Prometheus Hall of Fame winner Citizen of the Galaxy"},"content":{"rendered":"

The late great Robert Heinlein has received his eighth Prometheus Awards recognition over more than four decades, with his 1957 novel Citizen of the Galax<\/em>y recently inducted into the Libertarian Futurist Society’s Prometheus Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

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Robert Heinlein, a drawing (Creative Commons license)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although Heinlein passed in 1988, his fans are fortunate to have two organizations carrying on his legacy in related and cooperative ways: the Heinlein Trust, established by his wife Ginny after his death, and the Heinlein Society.<\/p>\n

Art Dula, Trustee of the Robert A. and Virginia Heinlein Prize Trust, gave an eloquent and informative extemporaneous speech accepting the 2022 Prometheus Hall of Fame award in Heinlein’s name and memory. Like the entire 40-minute ceremony, broadcast and recorded Aug. 13 on Zoom, Dula’s speech is available to watch on YouTube<\/strong><\/a>.*<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, John Tilden, president of the Heinlein Society, followed Dula in delivering an interesting and insightful second acceptance speech, for which we do have the text, which we share here for posterity:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

BY JOHN TILDEN<\/strong>
\nIt is my pleasure to provide a few remarks on this occasion of Citizen of the Galaxy\u00a0<\/em>being inducted into the Prometheus Award\u2019s Hall of Fame. I add my thanks \u00a0to the Libertarian Futurist Society for this honor.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been a Heinlein fan since I was a pre-teen, and I\u2019ve been involved with The Heinlein Society since its inception in 2000 as a charter member and now a lifetime member. I\u2019ve served on its board since 2012, and as its President since 2019. Our charity exists to \u201cPay it Forward\u201d through continued good works supporting the literary legacy of Robert A. Heinlein and those causes he supported during his lifetime.<\/p>\n

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Robert Heinlein (Creative Commons photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We were created with the initial support and guidance of Mrs. Virginia Heinlein, Robert\u2019s widow, and as an all-volunteer organization depend on membership dues and donations to support our programs.\u00a0 Those programs include discussing the significance of his works to both existing fans and helping to create new fans and keep Heinlein\u2019s legacy alive.<\/p>\n

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So, let me get to Citizen<\/em>\u2019s place in the legacy of Heinlein\u2019s work.\u00a0 I don\u2019t remember exactly when I first read it but I believe I came to it later, as I read most of Heinlein\u2019s works after I graduated college.<\/p>\n

This book is now classified and discussed as one of Heinlein\u2019s \u201cjuveniles,\u201d intended for a younger audience when first published in 1957.\u00a0 I\u2019ll note that the Heinlein Prize Trust has continued to put faith into this work being intended and accessible for younger readers, adapting it as a graphic novel in 2014 for today\u2019s generation.<\/p>\n

LIBERTARIAN THEMES<\/strong>
\nThe themes of the book certainly resonate with those that have a libertarian philosophy. It\u2019s highly structured, and, I think well-plotted, to show the main character Thorby\u2019s growth in understanding as he moves through various phases in the circumstances of his life. It deals directly with the concept of personal responsibility and in several ways with the various ways slavery may exist within a culture.<\/p>\n

Heinlein was himself heavily influenced by Rudyard Kipling\u2019s Kim\u00a0<\/em>in writing this novel. If you had never realized those parallels or influences, now I\u2019ve given you the perfect excuse for a re-read of both of those classics!<\/p>\n

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The Society published a review of Citizen<\/em> some years ago by member Alan Milner, and I\u2019d like to quote a few of Alan\u2019s observations here now as he makes some points better than I think I ever could!<\/p>\n

THE EVILS OF SLAVERY<\/strong>
\n\u201cOn the surface, Citizen\u00a0<\/em>is an eye-opening experience specifically because it eschews the easy argument against slavery by race, and moves directly into the more difficult argument against slavery as an inappropriate invasion of personal rights by both the state and by economic entities.<\/p>\n

Underneath that, however, Citizen\u00a0<\/em>is an impassioned plea for life-long education. In many of Heinlein’s books, a principal character is portrayed over time, beginning in relative ignorance, learning from experience, receiving the benefits of tutelage from an authoritative source, and then using those teachings to resolve subsequent problems. A formula, but one that works very well, repeatedly, in the hands of this master story teller\u2026.<\/p>\n

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Citizen of the Galaxy\u00a0<\/em>is one of those rare achievements, a book that actually focuses the reader’s mind and teaches him something worth knowing in the process.<\/p>\n

If Starship Troopers\u00a0<\/em>is perennially on the official reading lists for our military service academies, then Citizen\u00a0<\/em>should be required reading for those training for careers in education, psychology, human development – and, of course, fatherhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

A PERSONAL NOTE OF HOPE
\n<\/strong>On that same note, and in closing, I will share something personal about this work.<\/p>\n

I have a Christian faith, and when my son was baptized, we had a small celebration for him on the day of his ceremony with a small party afterwards. One of my good friends is not Christian, but is a Heinlein fan, and he gifted my son a copy of Citizen of the Galaxy\u00a0<\/em>as a token of the day and as an influence on his personal development when read at the right time.\u00a0 Today, I can\u2019t help but echo the earlier comments that the novel\u2019s place in the Hall of Fame might serve a similar purpose for others.<\/p>\n

Again, thank you for allowing me to be a part of this day.<\/p>\n

Note: Check out the Prometheus Blog appreciation reviews of some of Robert Heinlein’s other Hall of Fame inductees: The Moon is a Harsh Mistress<\/a>, <\/i>Stranger in a Strange Land<\/a>, Red Planet,<\/a>\u00a0Methuselah’s Children<\/a>,\u00a0Time Enough for Love,<\/a><\/i> “Requiem”<\/a> and “Coventry.”<\/a><\/p>\n

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*\u00a0Watch the <\/strong>videos <\/strong>of past Prometheus Awards ceremonies, Libertarian Futurist Society panel discussions with noted sf authors and leading libertarian writers, and other LFS programs on the Prometheus Blog\u2019s\u00a0Video page.<\/strong><\/a>
\n
\n<\/u><\/strong>* Prometheus winners:\u00a0<\/strong>For the list of Prometheus winners, finalists and nominees \u2013 for the annual Best Novel and Best Classic Fiction (Hall of Fame) categories and occasional Special Awards \u2013 visit the enhanced\u00a0Prometheus Awards page\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>on the LFS website, which now includes convenient links to the full set of published appreciation-reviews of past winners.<\/p>\n

* Read\u00a0\u201cThe Libertarian History of Science Fiction,\u201d<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0an essay in the international magazine\u00a0Quillette<\/em>\u00a0that favorably highlights the Prometheus Awards, the Libertarian Futurist Society and the significant element of libertarian sf\/fantasy in the evolution of the modern genre.<\/p>\n

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*\u00a0Join us<\/strong>! To help sustain the Prometheus Awards,\u00a0join\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>the Libertarian Futurist Society (LFS), a non-profit all-volunteer association of freedom-loving sf\/fantasy fans.<\/p>\n

Libertarian futurists believe that culture matters! We understand that the arts and literature can be vital, and in some ways even more powerful than politics in the long run, by sparking innovation, better ideas, positive social change, and mutual respect for each other\u2019s rights and differences.<\/p>\n

Through recognizing the literature of liberty and the many different but complementary visions of a free future via the Prometheus Awards, the LFS hopes to help spread better visions of the future that help humanity overcome tyranny, slavery and war and achieve universal liberty and justice for all.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The late great Robert Heinlein has received his eighth Prometheus Awards recognition over more than four decades, with his 1957 novel Citizen of the Galaxy recently inducted into the Libertarian Futurist Society’s Prometheus Hall of Fame. Although Heinlein passed in 1988, his fans are fortunate to have two organizations carrying on his legacy in related … Continue reading Slavery, liberty, personal responsibility and legacy: The Heinlein Trust and Heinlein Society acceptance speeches for Prometheus Hall of Fame winner Citizen of the Galaxy<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[687,31,10,1860],"tags":[1312,1096,1661,1660,1659,536,268,914,689,21,371,720,83,841],"class_list":["post-4872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-award-acceptance-speech","category-awards-news","category-news","category-robert-heinlein","tag-citizen-of-the-galaxy","tag-coventry","tag-education","tag-fatherhood","tag-heinlein-society","tag-liberty","tag-prometheus-hall-of-fame","tag-requiem","tag-responsibility","tag-robert-heinlein","tag-slavery","tag-starship-troopers","tag-the-moon-is-a-harsh-mistress","tag-time-enough-for-love"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pe8nGl-1gA","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4872"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4872\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4930,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4872\/revisions\/4930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}