Time Travel with Phil ROUS 10:29

Rainbird R.A. Laferty 1961

“We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.” ― Kurt Vonnegut

The Plain Facts

1. Length:10 Pages
2. Genre:Science Fiction
3. Category:Time Travel post Golden Age of Science Fiction
4. Characters

Creator	Nemesis
Productivity	Time Wasted
Old Gaff	young galoot
thinker	worker





5. Setting
• Devil's Head Mountain Massachusetts

Time From	Time To
1779	1844

So, what's It About Man?

What if you could talk to your younger self and by pass all the time wasted on dead ends and winding paths? How productive could you be with your life? What could an individual achieve if they could bypass the time wasters of life? Would this be a benefit or a problem for mankind?

First Words

Were scientific fists truly tabulated the name of the Yankee inventor, Higgston Rainbird, would surely be without peer.

Last Words

He is known for such, and for no more.

Favorite Quote

1. But what couldn't I have done if it weren't for the blind alleys! Ten years lost in one of them, twelve in another...Oh, the wastes, the wilderness that a talent can wander in!
2. Things of which we lern the 'what' before we fathom the 'why'.

What I Learned About Writing

• Circular endings work well. Show what might have been then trace it back to an alternative approach. In ten pages Lafferty was able to show three possibilities for the outcome of the inventors life.
• Have a younger self talk to an older self so that their creative life did not get hung up by rocky territory.

Turnip Tips

1. When compared to G.k. Chesterton, he responded: "You're on the right track boy, your on the right track."
2. He was a Science Fiction writer who embraced his Catholic Religion.
3. Six Fingers of Time and Sodom and Gomorrah Texas can be read for free at project Gutenberg.

Where to Find This Story

The Best Time Travel Stories of the 20th Century