This may simple be a case of mixed memories, but I recall watching a Christmas episode of the 1980's "Twilight Zone" series.
The final story of the episode was about some space explorers who found the ruins of a civilization that had been destroyed by their star going nova. They encounterd a temple of sorts where they found an inscription which when translated stated something about how even they they new they were going to die when their star went nova they were glad because the event was to mark the birth of the savior of all worlds, or something like that. One of the crew members did a quick calculation and determined that the light from the nova would have reached earth at 1 AD and would have first appeared over Bethlehem.
I think when they showed the credits that the writer was Orsen Scott Card, but I could be wrong. I recall that my father pointed out the OSC was LDS.
Anyway, I was just wondering if I could get confimation of this or if this is indeed a case of muddled memories. Thanks.
Posted by A Rat Named Dog (Member # 699) on :
I think Card may have used that story as an example in one of his writing books ... but it wasn't his.
Posted by Kit the Odd (Member # 4975) on :
I do remember reading a short story with that plot. It was written '1st person' by a crew member that was also a priest. But I don't remember the author, sorry.
Posted by MrSquicky (Member # 1802) on :
I think that was a Clarke, but I could be wrong.
Posted by Dav (Member # 8217) on :
That plot is extremely similar to the short story "The Star" by Arthur C. Clarke, so that's almost certainly what the episode was based on.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Yeah, I remember that story!
Posted by Orson Scott Card (Member # 209) on :
It's "The Star," by Arthur C. Clarke. Pronounced with the same number of syllables with the same accent pattern as Orson Scott Card. Last name starts with C and as AR in it. Middle name starts with S sound. First name starts with a vowel-plus-R. Sounds like I got filed in your memory in the slot already occupied (but vaguely) by Arthur C. Clarke. Which is NOT a bad place for a sci-fi author to be <grin>.
Posted by Omega M. (Member # 7924) on :
I think I read somewhere that astronomers have determined that there really was a supernova that would have been visible in the sky of Palestine at around the time of Christ's birth, and that this could have been the source of the Star of Bethlehem legend. Has anyone else heard this?
Posted by JLM (Member # 7800) on :
Orsen Scott Card....Arthur C. Clark. Yeah, I can see how this 20-year old memory got confused. Especially since I'm terrible with names. As I've been signing Christmas cards I keep asking my wife, "Who are these people again?"
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Heh, you should try filling out forms while pregnant. The other week I forgot my maiden name. And here's the worst part-- my maiden last name is my legal middle name now, and my maiden middle name is my mother's last name. *facepalm*
Then there was the day about 1 1/2 weeks ago that I was telling my daughter not to do something and called her, not by her name, not even by my husband's or one of the cats' (all of which I have done of late), but by my name. Ay.
Posted by BandoCommando (Member # 7746) on :
Huh....Arthur C. Clarke and Orson Scott Card. I never noticed the phonetic similarities, even though your books are right next to each other's on virtually every library and bookstore shelf in (at least) the United States.
This reminds me of a scene in Douglas Adam's book "The Long, Dark Teatime of the Soul," in which the protagonist (Dirk) has a conversation with another character (Sarah), as follows about a fictional author:
quote: She shrugged and picked up the book again herself.
"The other thing David -- that's my brother -- says about [Howard Bell]is that he has the absolute perfect bestseller's name."
"Really?" said Dirk. "In what way?"
"David says it's the first thing any publisher looks for in a new author. Not, 'Is his stuff any good?' or 'Is his stuff any good once you get rid of all the adjectives?' but, 'Is his last name nice and short and his first name just a bit longer?' You see? The 'Bell' is done in huge silver letters, and the 'Howard' fits neatly across the top in slightly narrower ones. Instant trade mark. It's publishing magic. Once you've got a name like that then whether you can actually write or not is a minor matter."
So perhaps there's some publisher secret regarding sci-fi authors and phonetic similarities. Maybe Arnold Soong Carp will be the next big sci-fi author!
Posted by Omega M. (Member # 7924) on :
"Douglas Adams" also fits those name criteria, doesn't it?
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
![[Dont Know]](graemlins/dontknow.gif)
Thanks.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)