Heinlein estate goes to UC-Santa Cruz

SANTA CRUZ, Calif., Oct. 7 (UPI) -- The late world famous science fiction writer Robert Heinlein's literary estate has been donated to the University of California-Santa Cruz archive.

Heinlein's late widow also donated about $300,000 in cash to establish the position of a Heinlein Scholar, who will work to organize, document and promote the scholarly use of the archive

Considered one of the grandmasters of science fiction, Heinlein produced more than 50 novels and collections of short stories. He became a pop icon in the 1960s with the publication of his book, "Stranger in a Strange Land," one of the most successful science fiction novels in history. He also wrote "Starship Troopers," "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" and "The Puppet Masters."

William Patterson Jr., the Heinlein Scholar for 2003-04, said a new Heinlein book will be published by Simon & Schuster in November.

Said Patterson: "It's his very first novel from 1938 about a political utopia. He put it in his files and later destroyed all the copies, but a friend of his had kept a copy and it was found last year. It's called 'For Us, The Living.'"