Rhoades, Shirrel

How did I get hooked on science fiction? That's an easy question: In high school I had a geeky friend named Tommy. His face was covered in pimples. His hair oily. He had fat lips and a goofy, lopsided grin. He was veeeery, veeeery smart. He wasn't popular. After he flubbed a reading of "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" in English Class, he was forever dubbed The Albatross. Not to suggest that he was burdensome; it was simply an appellation that identified him from all the other Tommys in our class. The Albatross was a reader. No, he didn't bother reading the homework assignments. That wasn't i...