@Magiver , @Sam_Stone , Bob Hoover probably does belong in this discussion. On Amazon Prime, the documentary Flying the Feathered Edge tells of his very interesting life, his great skills and of being that “pilot’s pilot”, and of the lives he did save, at Reno and in other scenarios. And of his friendship with Chuck Yeager.
A very interesting story, the life of Bob Hoover.
And I just downloaded the 1950 song by Patti Page, The Tennessee Waltz. It’s a reference to Hoover’s flying, a particular flying maneuver, and it’s the closing song in the documentary.
Sure, it existed as an identifiable genre. Christie herself wrote a very nice Tommy and Tuppence homage to various pioneers of the genre (Partners in Crime, IIRC). But the fact that most of the “classic” fictional detectives she mentions are basically unknown nowadays compared to Christie’s own immortals (exceptions for Holmes and IIRC Wimsey, of course) tells you all you need to know about what I’m trying to say about Christie’s defining the genre.
I mean, you can go on talking about other aspects of the evolution of the detective story as much as you want, I don’t mind. But none of it is particularly relevant to what I’m saying about Christie being a once-in-a-lifetime talent. (Though I agree that “talent” in this case doesn’t mean specifically “literary talent”, for which few authors in the genre were or are remarkable.)
There are and were lots of other detective-story writers, but Christie was and is the “Queen of Crime”.
This is an utterly different claim from what you made before. She is indeed called that. As long as someone sticks to that narrow accolade, I’m fine. Anything past that is worth demolishing, though.
I nominate Sagan not for his scientific achievements, but for his clear, enthusiastic popularization of science for the layperson—astronomy, cosmology, and physics in particular. His books and television series enthralled many people and no doubt resulted in more than a few pursuing higher education and careers in science.
There are of course many fine, well-credentialed science popularizers/communicators, including, but not limited to: Richard Feynman Neil deGrasse Tyson, David Attenborough, Richard Dawkins, and Sabine Hossenfelder. But, IMO, Sagan was the most adored and most successful at spellbinding the average Joe.
He has my vote billions and billions of times over.
When I feel blue, I can watch the 1973 Belmont and feel restored. Although there have been wonderful race horses before and after him, there was only one Secretariat.
My pick for science fiction author would be Robert Heinlein. His stories took pulp science fiction to the next level of sophistication in the late 30’s and 40’s. He broke out of the pulps and wrote stories for ‘slicks’ like The Saturday Evening Post, exposing SF to larger audiences. His books have sold over 100 million copies. All of them are still in print.
He’s considered one of the ‘big three’ SF writers of the 20th century, along with Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke. Asimov and Ray Bradbury considered him a serious influence. But Heinlein had a much bigger cultural impact. His juveniles inspired a generation of scientists and engineers. Most libertarians cite him as an influence. And Stranger in a Strange Land is considered a significant influence on the hippy and free love movements of the 60’s.
He wasn’t just an influential science fiction writer, he was, according to the NY Times Review of Books, one of the most influential American literary figures, period. Some of his books are required reading at Annapolis and West Point.
“From the moment his first story appeared, an awed science fiction world accepted him as the best science fiction writer in existence, and he held that post throughout his life.”
– Isaac Asimov
“Following World War II, Robert A. Heinlein emerged as not only America’s premier writer of speculative fiction, but the greatest writer of such fiction in the world. He remains today as a sort of trademark for all that is finest in American imaginative fiction.”
– Stephen King
I grew up in the 80s and Bruce Lee was considered a martial artslegend and he was on the cover of martial arts magazines regularly (and still is to this day.)
But with the rise of UFC and mixed martial arts I now wonder how great Bruce Lee actually was or are people just nostalgic reminiscing about his movies and tragic early death.
