Out of the halls of literature emerges science fiction writer Robert Heinlein's alter-ego, Lazarus Long, a man that stays young forever and knows everything. He was an actor, musician, beggar, farmer, priest, pilot, politician, con artist, gambler, doctor, lawyer, banker, merchant, soldier, electronics technician, mechanic, restaurateur, investor, bordello manager and slave. The novels in which Lazarus Long appears are intended for young adults, particularly males, and present an image all boys in the middle of the last Century admired, and some strived for. Back when Lazarus Long was popular, men walking on the moon seemed obvious and glorious; when knowledge was king and experience sought after.

Attempting to emulate Lazarus Long requires a lifetime of advanced education, experience & travel; something that only the Baby Boom generation had the opportunity to pursue. Also indicative of the time he was written, Long is a rugged individualist with a distrust of authority; subsequent generations do not find Lazarus Long so appealing since Collectivism and equality are the up-and-coming ideology. As it turned out, Lazarus Long was not immortal.