[2] She met Robert when they both worked at the Naval Air Experimental Station in Philadelphia when she was a lieutenant in the WAVES in the U.S. Navy in World War II.

Prior to a trip to the Soviet Union, where they happened to be when Francis Gary Powers was shot down, Virginia learned to speak Russian, which proved invaluable in talking with local citizens.

[4] She was touched when other users sent her Mother's Day greetings as an homage to her bestowing the title of "Heinlein's Children" on Robert's fans worldwide.

After Robert's death in 1988, she moved from California to Florida,[5] where she edited a collection of his letters and writings, published in 1989 as Grumbles from the Grave.

[6] She authorised the publication of Tramp Royale[7] and longer editions of previously published works Stranger in a Strange Land,[8] The Puppet Masters, and Red Planet.