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inspiration - Did Robert Heinlein write about his real-life cats?


Robert Heinlein must have known and loved many cats. Pete, in The Door into Summer is a fully realized character, and Pixel in two of the Lazarus Long books is also memorable.


The title of The Door into Summer



was triggered by a remark which Heinlein's wife Virginia made when their cat refused to leave the house: "He's looking for a door into summer." (See first link.)



But other than the page Robert A. Heinlein Quotes About Cats on A-Z Quotes, I have not found any mention of Heinlein writing about real-life cats. Did he write or comment on the real-life cats who inspired his cat characters?




Answer



In the book Grumbles from the Grave which was assembled from Heinlein's papers post-mortem, a number of Heinlein cats are discussed in chapter 13, subsection "CATS". Example:



January 12, 1957: Robert A. Heinlein to Lurton Blassingame


Pixie is dying...uremia, too far gone to hope for remission; the vet sent him home to die several days ago. He is not now in pain and still purrs, but he is very weak and becoming more emaciated every day-it's like having a little yellow ghost in the house.



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