Typewriters in Heaven.

Author Isaac Asimov and I both want typewriters in Heaven.

This is his musing, as found in “The Sun”, a newsletter for writers that I get.

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“A couple of months ago I had a dream, which I remember with the utmost clarity.  (I don’t usually remember my dreams.)  I dreamed I had died and gone to Heaven.

I looked about and knew where I was — green fields, fleecy clouds, perfumed air, and the distant, ravishing sound of the heavenly choir.

And there was the recording angel smiling broadly at me in greeting.

I said in wonder, “Is this Heaven?”

The recording angel said, “It is.”

I said (and on waking and remembering, I was proud of my integrity), “But there must be a mistake.  I don’t belong here.  I’m an atheist.”

“No mistake,” said the recording angel. 

“But as an atheist how can I qualify?”

The recording angel said sternly, “We decide who qualifies.  Not you.”

“I see,” I said.

I looked about, pondered for a moment, then turned to the recording angel and asked, “Is there a typewriter here I can use?”

The significance of the dream was clear to me.

I felt Heaven to be the act of writing, and I have been in Heaven for over half a century, and I have always known this.”

— Isaac Asimov