Isaac Asimov Pursued His Star; Work Hard: The inveterate writer pumped out books with a robot's endurance.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)

Byline: AMY REEVES

Isaac Asimov (1920-1992) was, to say the least, a prolific writer. Between science-fiction novels like the "Foundation" series, nonfiction books about science and history, children's books like "Lucky Starr," and collections of previously published work like "I, Robot," almost 500 books have appeared under Asimov's name.

Not surprisingly, Asimov loved writing above all else. "I am so ill-rounded that the 10 things I love to do are: write, write, write, write, write, write, write, write, write and write," he wrote in a 1979 letter. "Oh, I do other things. I even like to do other things. But when asked for the 10 things I love, that's it."

Still, Asimov's industry didn't come completely from love. He learned to work hard, long hours very early. His parents, who immigrated to New York from Russia when he was three, owned a series of candy stores that were open all day, every day. Asimov was expected to help out when he wasn't in school.

Back in the '20s and '30s, science fiction as a genre was just coming into its own. It appeared primarily in pulp magazines like Amazing Stories and Astounding Stories. The Asimov family candy store sold them, and Isaac read them -- provided he returned them unharmed to the rack so they could be sold.

And those stories stuck with him. From a young age Asimov had a remarkable memory. In his autobiography, he said he would read his assigned schoolbooks in the first week of classes, then coast along through the rest of the year. As an adult, Asimov considered nonfiction easier than fiction, because he could write from memory rather than make up plots and characters.

Asimov started writing in his early teens. But he didn't tackle science fiction right away. "I had the most exalted notion of the intense skills and vast scientific knowledge required of authors in the field, and I dared not aspire to such things," he recalled.