AboutSue Kayton Expertise Engineer who has read thousands of science fiction books and short stories. Can recommend stories on specific subjects and comment on technical feasibility. Especially good at older out-of-print books and authors.
Question I read a science fiction short story in a college text book in the late 1970's. It was American River Community College. It was about a parasite that came to earth on a meteor or something and it changed people. The term dermie or dermy was used to signify the ones who had been infected. The parasite gave it's host the uncontrollable urge to touch and thereby infect those who were not infected. The hero of the story falls into the hands of some of the infected people and winds up falling in love with one of them.
THANK YOU
Answer Sorry - never read this one. Try googling "dermie" or "dermy."
My favorite infection-from-space-that-spreads story is Green Patches, by Isaac Asimov. It appears in several anthologies including "Nightfall And Other Stories." This anthology is excellent, with many of his best-known stories.
