Hazel Stone is a fictional character created by

Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein ( ; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific acc ...

and featured in ''

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

'', ''

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress ''The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress'' is a 1966 science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein about a lunar colony's revolt against absentee rule from planet Earth. The novel illustrates and discusses libertarian ideals. It is respe ...

'', ''

The Cat Who Walks Through Walls ''The Cat Who Walks Through Walls'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, published in 1985. Like many of his later novels, it features Lazarus Long and Jubal Harshaw as supporting characters. Plot summary A write ...

'', and other novels.

Appearances

''The Rolling Stones''

Hazel's first published appearance was as Hazel Stone in ''The Rolling Stones'' (1952), where she lives in the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

with her son, his wife, and their four children. She is portrayed as a cantankerous but capable woman who cares fiercely for her family. She makes many boasts about her youth, in particular her role in the founding of the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

("I know there is

free speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recognise ...

on Luna—I wrote it into the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

myself!"), and complains about the kind of people living in Luna now. She helps her twin grandsons, Castor and Pollux, convince their father to take the family on a tour of the

Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sola ...

. When she departs Luna, she is honored as one of the founders at a reception held by the mayor. She convinces her son to extend the tour, and helps to pay for it by taking over his role as the author of the

space opera Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes Space warfare in science fiction, space warfare, with use of melodramatic, risk-taking space adventures, relationships, and chivalric romance. Set mainly or entirely in outer space, i ...

serial ''The Scourge of the Spaceways,'' starring Captain John Sterling. At the end of the novel, the family departs the

asteroid belt The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, centered on the Sun and roughly spanning the space between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids ...

to head to

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant, with an average radius of about 9 times that of Earth. It has an eighth the average density of Earth, but is over 95 tim ...

''The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress''

The character later appears in ''The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress'' (1966), which tells the story of the Lunar Revolution and bears out some of her claims. She first appears as a prepubescent child at an anti-government rally, and when armed government agents raid the rally, she is noticed by the main character to be among those who jump into the fight. He later sees her and learns that she is Hazel Meade, an orphan living and working at a crèche. She is recruited into the underground organization plotting to overthrow the government, and is placed in charge of the "

Baker Street Irregulars The Baker Street Irregulars are fictional characters who appear in three Sherlock Holmes stories, specifically two novels and one short story, by Arthur Conan Doyle. They are street boys who are employed by Holmes as intelligence agents. The na ...

", a group of small children used for observation and distribution of

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

. She is also one of the people who sign the Lunar Declaration of Independence, and is adopted by the narrator and his family (he is part of a

group marriage ''Group Marriage'' is a 1972 sex comedy film directed by Stephanie Rothman. It was the first film she made for Dimension Pictures, a company in which she was a minor shareholder with her husband Charles Swartz along with Larry Woolner. Plot Chri ...

). At the end of the novel, she marries into the Stone family. (Her maiden name, Meade, is also the name of her granddaughter in ''The Rolling Stones''.)

''The Number of the Beast'' and ''The Cat Who Walks Through Walls''

Hazel appears briefly in '' The Number of the Beast'' (1980), where she is brought into the larger Heinlein multiverse and interacts with other characters from unrelated Heinlein novels. In ''

'' (1985), Gwen Novak, the female lead, reveals that she is actually Hazel Stone, sent to recruit the lead character in a mission to revive

Mycroft Holmes Mycroft Holmes is a fictional character appearing in stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle from 1893 to 1908. The elder brother (by seven years) of detective Sherlock Holmes, he is a government official and a founding me ...

, the computer who helped run the Lunar revolution.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stone, Hazel Characters in written science fiction Fictional writers Robert A. Heinlein characters