Hi, Paul Quinn!   
   I read your message from 11.09.2015 14:39   
      
    PQ>>> My initial thoughts on the tale centered on the incredible timing   
    PQ>>> required to snatch & return the star author.   
      
    ak>> Before the deal, the author was asked what he wanted stronger: to   
    ak>> die that moment, or to have another month of life and do his   
    ak>> favorite business.   
      
    PQ> If it were me in the place of that fan, I would have chosen a time   
    PQ> much earlier than leaving the matter so close to the author's   
    PQ> death. Since the fan is essentially a time 'lord' (in the Doctor   
    PQ> Who sense), he could have, and should have, chosen a more opportune   
    PQ> time. The 'reward' need only be to give the author any time in a   
    PQ> future not otherwise available to him.   
      
   The main idea was that you should not change the past. That's why the author   
   could not be taken at the earlier stage of his life. Bradbury often told of   
   such things. Do you remember the novel which tells us that even a butterfly   
   having been killed in the past can change the whole history of humankind?   
      
      
      
    ak>> I believe it was Ray Bradbury, but I couldn't figure out the   
    ak>> English name of the book. Perhaps, the book's name in the Russian   
    ak>> translation does not resemble the original one. I want read it in   
    ak>> the original.   
      
    PQ> I hadn't thought of him. Yes, he's a good choice. Heinlein was just   
    PQ> a an idea, snatched hastily. The story that I do recall was more in   
    PQ> the style of Harry Harrison. I have checked both Bradbury and   
    PQ> Harrison using Google, to no avail, unless it was from one from   
    PQ> their 'anthologies' partnership collection. I checked Brian Aldiss   
    PQ> as a possibility, with the same negative result. Oh, well. Them's   
    PQ> the breaks.   
      
   I've found out what it was: R. Bradbury "Forever and the Earth".   
      
   Bye, Paul!   
   Alexander Koryagin   
   ENGLISH_TUTOR 2015   
      
   --- Paul's Win98SE VirtualBox   
    * Origin: Quinn's Post - Maryborough, Queensland, OZ (3:640/384)