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<\/figure>Donors also got to choose a special prize and receive a cloisonn\u00e9 pin designed by Heinlein himself.
Blood is always in short supply and desperately needed. Please consider making a donation at the WonderCon Robert A. Heinlein Memorial Blood Drive in 2027!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
In the early 1970s, Robert A. Heinlein had a life-threatening illness and needed many pints of a rare blood type. He felt he owed his life to the donors, so when asked to be a guest at the 1976 Worldcon in his hometown of Kansas City, he agreed\u2014but with one specific stipulation: that he would only sign autographs for people who donated blood. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heinlein\u2019s 1951 novel, Between Planets,<\/em> helped popularize the phrase, \u201cPay it forward.\u201d Please make it a point to pay it forward this year, save people\u2019s lives, get an awesome shirt, and have some cookies and juice while you\u2019re at it! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Thank You, Robert Anson Heinlein<\/strong> (July 7, 1907\u2013May 8, 1988) was one of the most popular and respected science fiction authors of the 20th century. By setting a high standard for science and engineering plausibility, he helped raise the genre’s standards of literary quality. He was the first writer to break into mainstream magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post<\/em> in the late 1940s with unvarnished science fiction. He was among the first bestselling novel-length science fiction authors in the modern mass-market era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Four of Heinlein’s novels (Double Star<\/em>, Starship Troopers<\/em>, Stranger in a Strange Land<\/em>, and The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress<\/em>) won Hugo Awards in the years they were published. In 2001, another novel (Farmer in the Sky<\/em>) and a novella (The Man Who Sold the Moon<\/em>) received “Retro Hugos\u201d for the year 1951, and the movie Destination Moon<\/em>, which was based on a Heinlein story, received the “Retro Hugo” for Best Dramatic Presentation. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n He was the first writer to be named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America for lifetime achievement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Heinlein was known as the “Dean of Science Fiction Writers,” but he was much more. He was a philanthropist who helped many charitable causes and individuals. When asked how he could be repaid for his help, he would reply, “You can’t pay me back, you have to pay it forward.”One cause that was of great importance to him was blood donation. Having a rare blood type himself (AB+), he was a frequent donor and a supporter of the National Rare Blood Club, which was an integral part of his novel I Will Fear No Evil<\/em>. In 1976, at the 34th World Science Fiction Convention in Kansas City, he helped organize the first of many science fiction convention blood drives. He did the same in 1977 at San Diego Comic-Con. In 2026, Comic-Con will celebrate its 50th year of the Comic-Con Robert A. Heinlein Blood Drive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
WonderCon Robert A. Heinlein Memorial Blood Drive <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nA Brief History of Robert A. Heinlein<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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