Giant Sand Dunes of Oregon that Inspired Frank Herbert to Write Dune

Dune, one of the world's best-selling sci-fi novel, was inspired by giant sand dunes here on Earth.

In the late 1950s, Frank Herbert visited the Oregon Dunes, a 40-mile long stretch of windswept sand along the coast. The coastal sand dunes had been there for 100,000 years but human development had encroached on the area and the drifting dunes were threatening to swallow houses and roads. Humanity's answer was one of the largest geo-engineering project to stop the advancing dunes:

Herbert chartered a small plane to fly over the shifting sand dunes and what he saw inspired him to write that the project was "the first enduring answer to shifting sands in all history" and was "an unsung victory in the fight of men against dunes."

The moving dunes could "swallow whole cities, lakes, rivers, highways," Herbert wrote in a letter to his literary agent

I visited the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, and it was fantastic. If you're ever in the area, do check it out. No need to ride a sandworm, you can rent dune buggies and ATV from local businesses.

BTW, I'm experimenting with a free new email newsletter publication called Geeky Pop Forever - it's basically like Neatorama, but focused on geeky pop culture topics. If you like movies, comics, video games and fan art, please check it out and, hopefully, subscribe.

Image: Rebecca Kennison/Wikimedia