Eponymously Yours, W. Skeffington Higgins

Google has now scanned in my all-time favorite issue of Boys' Life, namely March 1964.

We were deep into the Space Age, racing the Russians to the Moon. Mercury was over; Gemini was about to begin.

I read the SCIENCE section faithfully in Time, The Weekly Newsmagazine, along with anything about space in Reader's Digest or National Geographic or any other magazine I could get my hands on.

I had recently discovered that the library had stories about rockets and astronauts and trips to other planets! They were called "science fiction" and there was generally a rocket sticker on the spine. The best of them was Islands in the Sky by Arthur C. Clarke. There were also nonfiction books by him.

So Boys' Life arrives in the mail one day, with a cover filled with fantastic spaceships, and a story by Clarke inside: "The Sunjammer." You can imagine my delight.

The enormous disk of sail strained at its rigging, already filled with the wind that blew between the worlds. In three minutes the race would begin, yet now John Merton felt more relaxed, more at peace, than at any time for the past year. Whatever happened when the commodore gave the starting signal, whether Diana carried him to victory or defeat, he had achieved his ambition. After a lifetime spent in designing ships for others, now he would sail his own.

In a few short pages, Clarke portrays a solitary pilot striving to win a solar-sailing race, and also tells the reader enough about the science of light pressure (hitherto unsuspected by me) to fire the imagination of the sternest hard-science buff. From the moment I read this story, I adored him.

Better yet, there were multiple illustrations by Robert McCall, making the story even more vivid.

About the only complaint I have is that the story was printed in a section of light-blue newsprint paper bound into the magazine's usual slick white paper. But through the magic of image processing, for the first time in my life, I can see what McCall's paintings would have looked like if they had been printed on white paper! A triumph for the Space Colorization Movement.

Eventually, when collected into books, the story was retitled "The Wind from the Sun." But I like "Sunjammer" better.

Clarke became my guide to the future. This story led me to his Dolphin Island, full of hovercraft, dolphins, and diving. Then to more of his books about spaceflight, and about the oceans.

And you can imagine how excited I became when Popular Mechanics (by then I had discovered Popular Mechanics) brought word that Clarke was working on a movie.

I could hardly wait.


(Part 1 in this series was Donald Keith's Time Machine Stories. Part 3 is Robert A. Heinlein's Scouts into Space.)

Okay, in my time zone, it's 16 December at last. Sir Arthur C. Clarke turns 90 today.

I'm sure my Uncle Benny won't mind sharing some of his cake:



I discovered Islands in the Sky when I was about nine, and from then on, I read everything I could find with "Arthur C. Clarke" on the spine. With him I explored spaceflight, the ocean, Ceylon, electronic communication, and-- best of all-- The Future.

And I really, really loved his science fiction.

He was active in science fiction fandom back when they were still inventing it. Ditto for space activism.

He shaped my ideas about science and engineering and what part they play in our civilization. He made becoming a scientist sound like so much fun. The lure was irresistible.

He once wrote:

Herewith the very rich hours of a twenty-first century person's day:

Skimming five hundred channel program listings, two hours; viewing television programs selected, four hours; catching up on recorded programs, six hours; exploring the hyperweb, six hours; and adventuring in artificial reality, four hours...

The observant reader will have noted that this schedule leaves only two hours for the rest of the day's activities. Much of that time will be spent plugged into the most urgently required invention of the near future-- the sleep compressor. (They're still working on the sleep eliminator.)

Sir Arthur has recorded a video essay reflecting on his 90 orbits, and has made it available on a global communication network. How Clarkeian.

Thank you, Sir Arthur, for opening doors for me, and for all the worlds you've given all of us. Happy birthday.

(If you want to send your own birthday greetings, the Sri Lanka Astronomical Association is collecting them.)

Sir Arthur C. Clarke is opposed to going backward in time.