The Ensignʼs Prize Court: Recovered Piratesʼ Booty Now Made Available! The principal mailing address of The Heinlein Society, a non-profit charitable corporation, is PO Box 1254, Venice, CA USA 90294-1254 JuneContents 2007 The Ensignʼs Prize Court ... Page 1 to 3 Secretaryʼs Report, Annual Notice of General Meeting and Election of Directors...........................Pages 3 and 4 $5,000 Writing Contest ......... Page 5 2007 Heinlein Award .............. Page 6 Editorʼs Corner ................ Pages 6 and 7 Somers Appointed Director.....Page 7 Ensign Virginia Doris Gerstenfeld, U.S. Lieutenant Commander Virginia Doris Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Volun- Gerstenfeld Heinlein, U.S. Navy Reserve, Committee Reports.......Pages 8 to 20 teer Emergency Services), 1943. Retired, about 1980. Services ........................... Page 8 Courtesy of the Heinlein Prize Trust Courtesy of the Heinlein Prize Trust Blooddrives .................... Page 15 Her father called her “Tiki” after ing the District of Columbia in intercity Academic ....................... Page 16 Education .......... Pages 16 and 17 Rudyard Kipling’s Riki-Tiki-Tavi, perhaps competitions, which her team regularly Reading Group .... Page 18 and 20 because, characteristically, once she got won. Unmarried, she dated men, including her teeth into something she never let it her skating partner and another whom she “Beans in a Bottle” .................... Page 9 go. With the advent of World War II, she didn’t name but once mentioned as having enlisted in the WAVES, and was commis- been an infantry officer lost in action in Final Update: The Heinlein Centen- sioned an Ensign after officer’s training. Europe during the winter of 1944-5. nial Year, Visits, Programs, Panels, Thereafter assigned to the Navy Aircraft After release from active duty in 1946 Blooddrives, Fund-raising and Vol- unteers .......................... Pages 10 to 13 research facility at Mustin Field outside she moved to Los Angeles and enrolled in Philadelphia and, on occasion, assigned a doctorate program in biology at UCLA. Letters to The Society, “from our to work with a research team supervised There she resumed her friendship with Special Correspondent in the South by civilian engineer Robert Heinlein, a the Heinleins. In 1947, Robert divorced Pacific …” ................. Pages 14 and 15 medically-retired regular Navy officer, Leslyn. A year later, Virginia Doris Ger- she became friends with him and his wife, stenfeld became Mrs. Robert Heinlein, Photos from Cascadia ........... Page 18 Leslyn, and participated in their social set. his third wife; and she so remained for the Brilliant, educated as a biologist, athletic rest of his life. She became his business Membership Application........Page 19 and social, she added the skills of an avia- manger, his Muse, his first reader, his A “few small things”................Page 20 tion engineer, contributed substantially collaborator, spokesman to his fans, his to the research activities at Mustin Field, nurse when he became ill, and his grieving We continue to need more help to is- and had been promoted two ranks to full widow. sue this Newsletter timely. If you can Lieutenant by the end of the war. She After he died, the volume of fan letters help, please contact competed when off-duty for the Wash- continued unabated and, slowly going [email protected]. ington Figure Skating Club, represent- blind, she continued answering them as Contʼd on Page Two 1 The Ensign’s Prize Court Cont’d from page one diligently as she had for years before. As his trustee and literary executrix, she con- tinued to manage his business affairs. Once she got her teeth into something, she never let it go. By 2000, she had discovered the Internet, using a massively-sized display for the time which enabled her to read the monitor despite her macular disorder. Researching, one day, she: ... happened to spot Mr. Heinlein’s name on a list of books offered on eBay. “Published by Amereon,” the list said. I found many other references to these offerings. I called a copyright attorney and ordered copies through friends of all ten books I found Amere- on to be offering. After receipt of the books, I instructed my attorneys to file suit. For years, I had kept a tickler file which I took out each year and made out renewal forms for everything Mr. Heinlein had written, twenty-eight years before. When each came up, I filled the forms out for copyright renewal and sent them to the Copyright office in the District of Columbia. I kept a file of the returned renewals, and my diligence paid off in this lawsuit. Amereon and their attorney put me through the paces: first they demanded of the copyright laws of the United States. had discovered. Supposedly, the infringer the original copyright certificates, She notified us that she wished to donate had no other copies in print of the works which we had never had—publishers those books to The Heinlein Society as her of Robert Heinlein. Subsequently, during keep those in their legal departments, gift for use in fund-raising to support its a contempt proceeding they had to bring, I suppose. I had never seen a single charitable goals. they received copies of an eighth hard- one. Amereon’s lawyers got copies Two days later in Florida she produced bound volume still being offered for sale. of all those certificates of renewal a Letter of Provenance, and approved The infringer has now “walked the plank” of copyright. At long last they were changes suggested by the Secretary of the out of business—a result the woman we persuaded to throw in the towel, Society in California who prepared a final call Ginny, but whose husband called her and offered me a consent judgment. copy for her signature. Two days after “Ticky,” the spelling having morphed, I accepted the offer, and the judge that, Thanksgiving Day, 2002, leaving her would have enjoyed living to see. Would looked over the judgment against condominium to attend her holiday dinner that she had. Amereon which contained, in my with friends at a Naval Officers’ Club, Barry Levin is likely today’s best- opinion, sufficient stipulations of she broke her hip and entered a hospital, known dealer of SF collectables. He proof of violation of the law against eventually to die in her sleep almost two has been in business as “Barry R. Levin Amereon, and approved and signed the months later on January 18, 2003. Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature,” consent judgment. “The Ensign’s Prize,” booty she recov- in Los Angeles County, for more than By the time that consent judgment was ered at no little expense from copyright pi- thirty years <http://www.raresf.com/ entered, she had founded The Heinlein rates, will be offered for sale for charitable bhome.html> and is frequently consulted Society. Four days before Thanksgiving fund-raising purposes by The Heinlein as an expert appraiser. Lately, for example, 2002, at the board’s monthly business Society for the next year from our website he appraised a collection at the University meeting, she announced she expected to and at all events we attend. of California, Riverside, well known as receive from the defendants their inven- Mrs. Heinlein’s lawyers received and the repository of the Eaton Collection, tory of printed books containing works of forwarded to the Society hardbound copies “the largest publicly-accessible collection Robert A. Heinlein produced in violation of seven of the infringing printings she of science fiction, fantasy, horror and 2 3 utopian fiction in the world.” were sold at Prize Courts for the benefit The Secretary-Treasurerʼs To allow you to make your own evalu- of those officers and men. Some officers, ation of his opinion, you should know who received a larger share of the Prize, Table and Reports Barry is, of course, a member of The became fabulously wealthy, namely one Heinlein Society. He has enjoyed reading named George Anson, who is, of course, Heinlein since his childhood. one real life counterpart and model for In his expert opinion, a set of the eight the Aubrey character in the late Patrick volumes Virginia Heinlein recovered in O’Brian’s immensely popular Aubrey-Ma- mint condition from Amereon and its alter turin series of sea tales. egos, “conservatively is worth a mini- Help the widow of another Anson, mum of $1,000, and will soon increase Robert Anson Heinlein, realize her goal in value,” particularly noting that three of in donating these unique works of Robert those volumes, including the only known Heinlein for funding our charitable efforts. hard-bound edition of the D.F. Vassallo-il- We won’t become fabulously wealthy— lustrated The Notebooks of Lazarus Long, there are only thirty or so sets; but you can Secretary-Treasurer Jane Silver verify- are unique and particularly valuable. help pay forward our charitable goals. At ing voting eligibility before the general We really have not had a good fund- the present time we are offering the sets at membership meeting at L.A.con.IV at Anaheim in 2006. raising opportunity since inception. This is $1,000. Expect that price to increase. Photograph by The Heinlein Society the beginning of one. Consider helping us, Tell your collector friends. Tell them By Jane Silver and yourself, and invest in this valuable also about our charitable efforts and goals: In my last column I told you of travels collection which will soon increase its blooddrives, scholarships, prizes for aca- to conventions in Toronto and the contigu- value. demic and other writing, restocking librar- ous US. I’m going to tell you more about In past times, Naval officers and crews ies, adult and children’s education alike. travel, because that is what we need this fought pirates and others, capturing their To order a set, email chairman@heinle year: people to travel to conventions to ships and, in some cases, like the officer insociety.org, or write to Chairman, The help with The Heinlein Centennial Year; and lady named “Tiki,” recaptured their Heinlein Society, PO Box 1254, Venice, and I’d like to convince you to volunteer loot.