As a teenager, I became interested in science fiction, not because of the science - but because of the imagination of the whole genre! I was a young boy living in rural (and Republican) South Dakota. In that state, imagination was not only discouraged but viewed with suspicion. After all, what did it have to do with making a living? Well, sigh, as a very near-sighted boy, what choice did I have but imagination? I couldn't play sports worth a damn because I couldn't see worth a damn. I was smart but not as smart as the "brains" in the school. So, what I had was imagination....imagination to escape a small rural town via the stars, the galaxies, and the universes depicted in science fiction! Through the short stories and novels, I could take part in unlimited travel and meet the strangest individuals (like myself, as any teenager thinks) and participate in wildly improbable (but scientifically underpinned) adventures. To this day, many people still think of science fiction as a "ghetto" of literature. I can't count the number of individuals who've sneered at my reading preferences, and for a long time it really bothered me. Then, I realized that that kind of snobbery prevented them from taking part in the grand voyage of the imagination that is science fiction, and they are the poorer for it. At its best, the genre presents breathtaking ideas and vistas, and I, for one, love to be part of that genre! Even now, after Lasik surgery and elimination of near-sightedness and astigmatism, I see farther than my sight allows thanks to science fiction! Next time, I talk about the science fiction (and other) writers who influenced my own writing! See you then! - Steve