He crafted some of the most beautiful prose of the 20th Century, yet he'll forever have an asterisk by his name in snobbish circles due to him being a "genre writer."
That completely ignores that a heck of a lot of his work had absolutely nothing to do with science fiction -
Dandelion Wine springs to mind.
One of my favorite stories by him was "Have I Got a Chocolate Bar For You." Not much to it beyond a fat guy going to confession, but I tear up every time I think of the conclusion of it - just a wonderful little story about the need for compassion and understanding. And every word of it beautifully considered and chosen, of course.
