Listen to Straylight’s interview of Joseph Haldeman, an award-winning science fiction writer and Vietnam War veteran known for his novel The Forever War.
Joe Haldeman is an American author who is best known for his works of science fiction. Though his best known work is The Forever War, Mr. Haldeman has maintained a steady stream of high quality works since he began writing. His works have netted him almost every award for science fiction, which includes the Nebula and Hugo awards he received for both The Forever War and Forever Peace. On top of the Nebula and Hugo awards, Forever Peace also won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award which made Forever Peace the first novel to win the triple crown of these awards since Frederik Pohl’s Geteway in the late 70’s. Mr. Haldeman was drafted into the Vietnam War and says, speaking of his application to the Peace Corps, that “I’d rather spend six years digging ditches in Africa than one year killing people in Vietnam.”
Mr. Haldeman was wounded in 1969 and received a Purple Heart for his service to his country. He returned to the states and has enjoyed a career as a successful and highly influential author since the early 70’s. Mr. Haldeman holds a Bachelor’s degree in Physics and another in Astronomy and he also has an MFA in writing. He has taught courses and workshops at numerous universities, including M.I.T. He has been married to Mary Gay since 1965 and she is immortalized in The Forever War as Mandela’s love interest. You can visit his website at www.joehaldeman.com.
Joseph Haldeman Interview is a post from: Straylight Literary Magazine