Summary
Henry Olerich (1851–1927) was a utopian author from Nebraska. In his best known novel, A Cityless and Countryless World (1893), a Martian lands on earth to teach humans how to create paradise. The method was to build houses that could hold 1,000 people, who would collectively farm and work.
Henry Olerich | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | February 1851 Hazel Green, WI |
| Died | May 10, 1927 (aged 76) Butte, Nebraska |
| Occupation | Author |
| Genre | Utopian fiction |
Olerich continued his utopian projections in two subsequent books, Modern Paradise (1915) and The Story of the World a Thousand Years Hence (1923).[1]
Olerich was also a lawyer, farmer, teacher, and machinist; he once earned a patent for an improved tractor.[2] He wrote a range of other works as well, including one titled "Viola Olerich, the Famous Baby Scholar: An Experiment in Education," about his adopted daughter who was for a short time a celebrated child prodigy.[3]
Olerich died by suicide, prompted in part by declining health.[4] Yet he left an abundant supply of autobiographical writings[5] that "reveal a persistent desire for the public recognition that always eluded him....The overall impression...is one of desperation on Olerich's part."[6]
The full text of the book A Cityless and Countryless World has been scanned and can be found online here.
References edit
- ^ Lyman Tower Sargent, "Themes in Utopian Fiction in English Before Wells," Science Fiction Studies, Vol. 3 No. 3 (November 1976), pp. 275-82; see p. 281.
- ^ Howard P. Segal, Technological Utopianism in American Culture, Syracuse, NY, Syracuse University Press, 2005; pp. 49, 188.
- ^ Published in The Palimpsest, Vol. 56 (May–June 1975).
- ^ "Fearing Blindness, Aged Philosopher Follows Own Precept". Wausau Daily Herald. May 12, 1927 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ Segal, pp. 188-9.
- ^ Segal, p. 49.
External links edit
- Works by or about Henry Olerich at Internet Archive