awakeAn outspoken socialist and pacifist, Wells is considered one of the two "Fathers of Science Fiction" (the other being Jules Verne). He led a remarkable life, wrote some fascinating books that were and still are considered science fiction romances, but had other claims to fame as well.
While I first read Asimov's Foundation as my introduction to science fiction when I was 9 or so, it was Wells's The Time Machine that may well have cemented my love of the genre, and taught me that "modern" sf in 1965 or thereabouts had predecessors that were just as important to read and know about.
Rest well, George Herbert Wells. You earned it.