Miriam Allen De Ford 21 min read

On his first day as a mail carrier, Sam Wilson takes the postman's ancient creed to heart, neither snow nor rain nor gloom of night shall stay him from his appointed rounds, whatever it takes.

Miriam Allen De Ford's 1959 story spins a wry social-SF and time-travel tale from a letter carrier's dogged devotion to duty. Charming, clever golden-age SF. Read it for a genial story that takes the postal service's proud motto to a wonderfully literal, cross-time extreme.

In its time

Published in 1959, during the 1950s, post-war optimism meets cold war anxiety.

Reading it

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

Illustrated by

Ed Emshwiller