"Stranger In a Strange Land": I Found My First Role Model

This post is part of a series in which Influencers describe the books that changed them. Follow the channel to see the full list.

It was the summer of ’77 when I experienced my own personal golden age of science fiction. “Star Wars” had just come out and I was working my way through the sci-fi classics, reading every book Ray Bradbury wrote and then moving on to the considerable bibliography of Isaac Asimov.

I was 11 years old, and I could best be described as a geek. I had one real friend who shared my obsession with Dungeons and Dragons, as well as a passion for reading. We spent countless days at the Winnetka Library browsing the book stacks, which is how I stumbled on Robert Heinlein’s “Stranger in a Strange Land.”

Today I wouldn’t add it to a must-read list, but at the time, “Stranger” seemed revolutionary, and not just because it was full of space travel, psychic powers and racy subplots. First released in 1961, “Stranger” tells the tale of a human raised by Martians who returns to a home planet he’s never known. It embodies everything I love about science fiction (even today), particularly the epic, universal battle between right and wrong. While all of those things make it a fun and intriguing read, what inspired me about “Stranger” was the idea that the world is basically a friendly place—something I hadn’t given much credence to before.

Maybe that’s an unusual takeaway for a book often viewed as a direct challenge to religion, capitalism, monogamy, and mortality, most of which went right over my 11-year-old head. But the lead character of Valentine Michael Smith finds allies, people who want to help him not because he is powerful or influential, but because it’s the right thing to do. This aspect of Smith’s journey resonated with my adolescent psyche, and it gave me the confidence and courage to open up to the people in my world.

In Smith, I found a role model for remaining undaunted in the face of difficult circumstances. Behavioral scientists have adopted the phrase “happy warrior” to describe those people with a rare mix of high testosterone—willing and able to compete and take risks—with relatively low cortisol—the hormone released in response to stress. Smith, along with many other Heinlein characters, certainly fits the mold.

I admire and strive to be the kind of “Happy Warrior” who wages righteous battle with a smile. Smith has the ability to vanquish his foes, yet he undertakes an epic journey to gain total understanding of his race. As readers, we watch Smith go from a meek and often-helpless individual to someone in complete control of his destiny, something an awkward adolescent could certainly relate to.

In Heinlein’s universe, there are always warring factions; but most people, on their own, are trying their best to do the right thing, to make the world a little safer and saner. “Stranger” is the story of how one character evolves from an outcast, with considerable resources but little individual power, to someone whose potential is realized.

Reading the book today, which I did while thinking about this post, I am reminded of another character trope—that of the “smart stranger.” Smith is an outsider looking in, and that unique perspective allows him to experience the world and come to conclusions that his Earth-bound allies could not.

I touched on perspective in an earlier blog, and how it is the fuel of innovation. I know that as a former litigator helming a financial services firm, I think about my business in a different light. I’m not beholden to the old way of doing things because I’ve never had to operate under those rules.

But I also don’t set out to vanquish every old custom. Like Smith, I want to understand the people and the processes around me, to “grok” how we got to where we are. “Stranger” is a stark reminder that the starting point for innovation is marrying the old with the new. Smith doesn’t reject Earth culture—he builds on the practices that have preceded him and modernizes them.

He’s not inventing—creating something from scratch. He’s innovating, making small but profound shifts, often in subtle ways, to create truly momentous results. It’s something I think about and strive for every day, and while Smith is by no means my only role model, he might very well be the first—and one I’m glad to have revisited.

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