Mordechai Sasson (1953–2012) WAS A CHEMIST, an artist and a writer. Born in Jerusalem to a family that has lived there for many generations, Sasson became a self-taught painter, specializing in oils. Since early childhood, he avidly collected science fiction books and magazines, comics and films. His worldview was ahead of its time in Israel, especially in matters of literature and poetry, art and music.
During his military service he participated in the Yom Kippur War, and subsequently started painting. While studying chemistry at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, he began to write science fiction. One day he left his notebook in class, and the assistant professor who found it decided to send a story to Fantasia 2000, which published it forthwith. Having won some success with further stories, including the one that follows herein, he began publishing stories in more venues, mainly children’s magazines. These stories were accompanied by his own illustrations. He published one children’s book, The Toads’ Party (1993), also illustrated by him. Sasson dedicated his stories to his good friend Eli Altaretz and to his own two daughters, to whom he always emphasized that knowledge is the greatest power. Sasson was involved in helping the poor and was severely critical of Israeli society for generally ignoring them. His stories featured the city of Jerusalem and its folksy citizens with gentle humor, kindness and deep love.