{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/65540e5778cd3a00123751d2/6aa8bf3257a97956696b5897?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"Membership Drive by Murray F. Yaco","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":200,"thumbnail_url":"https://open-images.acast.com/shows/65540e5778cd3a00123751d2/1789443715115-9356f968-20c9-4923-a212-b2345548e3bf.jpeg?height=200","description":"<p>An alien named Keeter makes an unplanned emergency landing near the Jefferson Memorial and treats the entire assembled US government with breezy, condescending indifference — right up until he needs a favor. What follows is a wry first-contact comedy where Earth’s eager officials keep giving away more than they realize, chasing the promise of a “test” for interstellar federation membership that may not be quite what it seems.</p><p><br></p><p>Murray F. Yaco was born in Queens, New York in 1927, served in the Army in Japan during World War II, and later worked as a war correspondent in Vietnam and Kuwait. He wrote only a handful of science fiction stories in the mid-20th century, with “Membership Drive” appearing in <em>Amazing Stories</em> in July 1960.</p>","author_name":"Keith Conrad / Darren Marlar"}