Me And Murry

I recently went on a trip, involving several long flights. As I've done over the past few years, I brought along a book, an old collection of even older sci-fi stories (from the "golden age of the pulps") by Murray Leinster.

I first "met" Murray when I was in college. I was working on a paper and needed to use one of the computers in the 24 hour lab (this was before the days of affordable laptops). Since it was around Finals, I wasn't the only one in need of word processing and a printer; there was a line out the door of other people in the same predicament as me (and which further reinforced my theory that we ALL wait to the last minute to get things done).

To pass the time, I borrowed one of my roommate's books ("The Best of Murray Leinster" edited by J J Pierce), which just so happened to be a collection of his short stories. I enjoy sci-fi, but I wouldn't call myself a big fan; I haven't read any of the great authors like Card, Asimov, or Heinlein, and other than a few cyberpunk books by William Gibson, most of my exposure has been through TV and movies.

Anyway, I enjoyed the stories, even if some of the writing felt a little dated; his stories are populated with spaceships and computers using vacuum tube technology. But details aside, the plots are engaging, the themes still relevant, and the science well-rooted in some basis of fact.

Years later I was looking though a used book store and found a copy of the book I had been reading in college. I picked it up and let in sit on a bookshelf...

Later still, I was getting ready for my first trip to New Orleans, to meet up with some friends for a bachelor party. Looking for something to fill the time at the terminal and on the plane (and since I'm a dreadfully slow reader), I picked up this book again.

Over the years as I've gone on trips to San Francisco, San Diego, and even London, Murray has always been along for the ride. This year, Murry came along again (all the way out to Hawaii), but on the return flight home, I finished the last story of the book. Now it sits on the shelf as another finished novel, which I may glance at from time to time, but unlikely to read again; in spite of, or maybe because of the fact that I'm such a slow reader, my "to read" pile grows faster than I can read them.

So now as this old book takes a place on the shelf, I'm on the search for a new collection of his work... since I have no planned trips coming up, so I have a little time.

If you're interested in checking out some of his work, here are a couple of places to look:
* Free ebooks from Project Gutenberg.
* Books available on Amazon.
* Books available from eBay.