Throughout the early 1950s, Heinlein accumulated bits and pieces of the overall “boy from Mars” story before finally starting to assemble a coherent manuscript in 1955-albeit one he quickly abandoned. The idea first came to the Heinlein household in 1948, but Robert Heinlein shelved the concept in favor of projects that promised quicker turnarounds. She summarized the idea as a variation on The Jungle Book with the Mowgli character raised by Martians rather than animals. What’s more, Ginny Heinlein-an accomplished biochemist and engineer-drew inspiration for the concept that would become Stranger in a Strange Land from the works of author Rudyard Kipling. While Heinlein brought the interplanetary exploits of Valentine Michael Smith to life, his third wife, Virginia, provided the basic idea from which the novel sprang.

THE AUTHOR’S WIFE CAME UP WITH THE IDEA THAT INSPIRED STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND. The author also tinkered with working titles including A Martian Named Smith and The Man from Mars. The novel takes its title from the scriptural verse Exodus 2:22 and Moses’s reflections on fleeing Egypt and producing a son with his wife Zipporah: “For he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land.” Before adopting the passage as the name of his book, Heinlein considered the decidedly less religious title The Heretic. THE BOOK’S ORIGINAL TITLE WAS NOT AS BIBLICAL. Despite the novel’s prominence, there are a few facts about its conception, writing, and extensive rewriting that might have eluded you.

The apex of Heinlein’s career and a cornerstone of its genre, the sociopolitical allegory is now recognized as a landmark of American literature.

Heinlein had put together a healthy bibliography throughout the 1940s and ’50s, he broke new ground with the publication of his 1961 science-fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land.

Robert heinlein mars