Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.
A founding father of science fiction has died. Richard Matheson passed away on Sunday in Los Angeles at 87 years of age.
You might not recognize his name, but there's a good chance you've seen his work in film and TV. He was responsible for iconic episodes of the "Twilight Zone," including "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet," which starred a young William Shatner as a passenger on a terrifying airplane.
He wrote multiple "Star Trek" episodes including, "The Enemy Within."
For more on Richard Matheson's life, we're joined now by book critic David Kipen, the founder of the lending library Libros Schmibros in Boyle Heights.
Read Richard Matheson's entry in the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.
View Richard Matheson's full bilbiography at iSFDB.
View the full episode of Matheson's 1961 "Twlight Zone" episode "The Invaders" below.
View the full episode of Matheson's 1963 "Twilight Zone" episode "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" below.