005: The Fifty-Fourth of July by Alan E Nourse - At Least One Vintage Sci-Fi Story Every Week

The author of today’s short sci-fi story had an interesting life. Born on August 11th 1928 in Des Moines Iowa, after graduating high school he went to Rutgers University, two years in the Navy, then on to the University of Pennsylvania to become a Doctor. He helped pay for his medical degree by writing science fiction for magazines. In a 1952 issue of Other Worlds he said he started reading science fiction while at Rutgers and was reading sci-fi like a man possessed. Saying he ended up being the most incurable type of science fiction addict, the kind that has to write it as well as read it!

He wrote more than 30 short stories and more than a dozen novels. If dating, getting married, college, medical school, the US Navy, writing for science fiction magazines and publishing his first novel weren’t enough in the first 5 years of the 1950’s, he also found the time to make 4 appearances on television as an actor, including one during the 8 year run of the The Philco Television Playhouse.

And if that wasn’t enough, the Good Doctor had a column in Good Housekeeping Magazine. In 1965 he wrote a nonfiction book titled “Intern” under the pseudonym Doctor X.

His legal name? Alan Edward Nourse. He’s perhaps better known as Alan E. Nourse. 

In the first episode of the Lost Sci-Fi podcast we mentioned that Philip K. Dicks Sci-Fi Novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” became the movie Blade Runner. But did you know that the movie got its name, not the content, the name and name only from the 1974 novel written by Alan E Nourse The Blade Runner? 3 minutes and 7 seconds after the credits for Blade Runner start you’ll see these words on the screen, With Thanks to Alan E Nourse for the use of the title Blade Runner. It really is 3 minutes and 7 seconds, yea, I’m weird like that.

Matt had to destroy the rocket because it was a symbol of evil that had brought economic disaster. But must he also destroy—the future? From Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy in March 1954 - The Fifty-Fourth of July written by Alan E Nourse.