Page "Laurence Manning" Paragraph 2

He was a founding member of the American Rocket Society, serving as both president and editor.

For his involvement in the Society, Manning is recognized by the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum as an early rocketry pioneer.

Manning retired from the American Rocket Society in the mid 1940s, stating that rocketry had ' grown up ', and was no longer a place for amateurs.

In 1961, Manning was awarded a lifetime membership in the Society, that award being presented by then Vice President of the US Lyndon B. Johnson.

Manning gave up his successful writing career at the end of 1935 and devoted his time to a mail order nursery business he owned and managed.

Apart from several short stories in the 1950s ( Good-Bye, Ilha !, Mr. Mottle Goes Pouf, Men on Mars ), he never wrote any more science fiction.

However, he was the author of a successful book on gardening, The How and Why of Better Gardening ( 1951 ).

Manning had three children: Helen Louise, Dorothy, and James Edward.

He lived in Highlands, New Jersey from 1951 until his death in 1972.