Identity elements
Reference code
TxAM-CRS C000272-3
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Box
Title
Past, Present, Future, "Stay, Oh Fleeting Moment," and Related Correspondence
Date(s)
- 1964-1987; Undated (Creation)
Extent
3 folders
Name of creator
(1920-1992)
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
3-1: Asimov, Isaac. Original manuscript of Past, Present, Future. Typed, 550 leaves, carbon copies, undated.
3-2: Asimov, Isaac. First Edition of Past, Present, Future. Included is the original dust jacket, 1987.
3-3: "Stay, Oh Fleeting Moment" and related correspondence.
- Original typescript essay with authorial corrections in ink with corrected carbon copy and typed letter signed ( "Isaac") to Playboy magazine editor Murray Fisher, together with 13 additional letters to Playboy editors: Fisher (6), James Goode (6), and A.C. Spectorsky (2), retained copies of Playboy correspondence, internal memos, and readers' reports.
- West Newton, Mass: August 22 1962-December 15, 1967. In the early and middle 1960s, Playboy editors repeatedly sought articles on scientific topics from Isaac Asimov, the prolific science and science fiction writer, on subjects including relativity and time travel, robotics, and genetic manipulation. Asimov (1920-1992) wrote "Stay, Oh Fleeting Moment," an 1800-word essay on the effects of time dilation for Playboy in early 1963. The associated correspondence documents the editorial response that led to the piece's rejection. Two further pieces were commissioned in 1964 and 1967.