Edward Everett Hale (1822-1909) is one of America's best-loved authors. His short story, “The Man Without a Country” is an acknowledged classic. A Unitarian clergyman and editor by profession, his sole foray into science fiction produced “The Brick Moon”, which described not only the first-ever fictional earth satellite, but also foresaw many of the functions modern satellites perform, such as weather observation, communications and navigation aids.