R. R. Winterbotham 17 min read

A chemistry teacher who'd rather go fishing is offered a fortune to sell out, and the paint on his conscience won't dry.

R. R. Winterbotham's 1955 story sets small-college instructor Homer Hopkins between a lucrative corporate research job and the modest, contented life he actually wants, all hinging on a jar of paint he never meant to turn into a career. A quiet, likable piece of social SF about ambition, integrity, and the pull of a simple life. Read it for a warm golden-age fable about choosing your own definition of success.

In its time

Published in 1955, during the 1950s, post-war optimism meets cold war anxiety.

Reading it

17 min read (a short story, a single idea, delivered and gone).

Illustrated by

W. E. Terry