Fred Ludekens’ Illustration for ‘The Green Hills of Earth’ (2013)

Fred Ludekens (1900-1982)

The Green Hills of Earth, 1947

Story illustration for Robert A. Heinlein’s “The Green Hills of Earth,” in The Saturday Evening Post (February 8, 1947)

Oil on canvas

Heinlein Society, © Virginia Heinlein

Author Robert A. Heinlein was delighted to have sold a science fiction short story to The Saturday Evening Post in 1947. *  The story, “The Green Hills of Earth,” was published a few weeks later and three more Heinlein stories were published by the Post in the following months. The words Rhysling sang are interspersed with the factual description of his last moments, ending with the final chorus,

In Ludeken’s story illustration Rhysling was painted in phosphorescent tones against a dark futuristic landscape with a moon, earth, and stars hanging in the sky.

Source: www.rockwell-center.org