Happy Birthday Mr. Heinlen

Apparently, today is Robert Heinlein's birthday. What self respecting male American geek could claim not to have read some of this man's books in his youth? I believe that the first book of his that I read at a pretty early age was Podkayne of Mars. His most famous book, of course, was Stranger in a Strange Land. Who could have known that the utterly wild premise of this book, that a science fiction writer could orchestrate a new religion, would become true one day?

But it was Heinlein's book I Will Fear No Evil that revealed to me the true reason why death is, ultimately, a good thing. If no one died, then there would be no room for children and we would all suffocate in our own endless supply of complaints, fear, cynicism, and irregular bowel movements.