SEPTEMBER 8, 2003—The Heinlein Society announced today that founding president William H. Patterson has stepped down from his office to focus on completing his widely-anticipated biography of the world-famous author, Robert A. Heinlein. Mr. Patterson is universally acknowledged as the leading authority on the late author, and remains publisher/editor of the Heinlein Journal, an independent publication dedicated to presenting scholarship on Heinlein’s life and career. The Society also announced that David Silver, Secretary-Treasurer of the Society for the last three years, has been chosen by the Board of Directors to lead THS. Mr. Patterson will remain on the Board of Directors of the Society.

Patterson, co-author of The Martian Named Smith: Critical Perspectives on Robert A. Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land (Nitrosyncretic Press, 2001), is widely credited with being a vital force in the founding of The Heinlein Society. President Silver said, “All of us owe a great debt to Mr. Patterson for his instrumental role in the founding and formation of this Society: without Bill’s willingness to form the Society at Mrs. Virginia Heinlein's request, it is very fair to say there never would have been a Heinlein Society in the first place. We are extremely pleased that Bill will remain on the Board of Directors and continue to provide us with his experience.” Silver also observed, “We are eagerly anticipating the publication of Bill’s biography of Robert A. Heinlein, and were thrilled when the Heinlein estate named him to occupy the new position of ‘Heinlein Scholar’ at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where Robert and Ginny’s papers are housed. We understand that there are only so many hours in the day, and the time demands on the president of THS continue to grow as the Society grows.”

Silver (see bio here) takes over the helm of the Society after three years as Secretary-Treasurer. A retired lawyer and Heinlein fan from the age of eleven, in 1997 David Silver started the successful “Internet Heinlein Reading Group”. He was startled a few years later when one of the attendees disclosed that she was Virginia Heinlein, widow of the late author. “Ginny liked what she saw,” Silver remembers, “and asked me to be on the Board of The Heinlein Society. Shortly after, she requested that I accept the position of Secretary-Treasurer of the Society as well. I was, and will always be, grateful for her confidence in me.” Silver continued, “Ginny left us earlier this year, but we will always strive to fulfill the lofty goals she set for us to ‘Pay Forward!’ the legacy that she and Robert left us.”

Silver observes, “These are exciting days for ‘Heinlein’s Children’, with the recent presentation of the first Heinlein Awards for hard science-fiction (see story) at THS annual dinner, the discovery of a completed manuscript of Robert’s lost first novel For Us, The Living by Heinlein Society member Robert James, PhD (see story), and the upcoming unveiling of the new Heinlein Prize for accomplishments in commercial space activities (see www.heinleinprize.com). The best is yet to come.”