Happy Birthday, Ray Bradbury.

[beam me up scottie]

I'd like to use this opportunity to express my love and eternal gratitude to this great man who opened my eyes when I was a child.

Biography

Ray Bradbury, American novelist, short story writer, essayist, playwright, screenwriter and poet, was born August 22, 1920 in Waukegan, Illinois. He graduated from a Los Angeles high school in 1938. Although his formal education ended there, he became a "student of life," selling newspapers on L.A. street corners from 1938 to 1942, spending his nights in the public library and his days at the typewriter. He became a full-time writer in 1943, and contributed numerous short stories to periodicals before publishing a collection of them, Dark Carnival, in 1947.

His reputation as a writer of courage and vision was established with the publication of The Martian Chronicles in 1950, which describes the first attempts of Earth people to conquer and colonize Mars, and the unintended consequences. Next came The Illustrated Man and then, in 1953, Fahrenheit 451, which many consider to be Bradbury's masterpiece, a scathing indictment of censorship set in a future world where the written word is forbidden. In an attempt to salvage their history and culture, a group of rebels memorize entire works of literature and philosophy as their books are burned by the totalitarian state. Other works include The October Country, Dandelion Wine, A Medicine for Melancholy, Something Wicked This Way Comes, I Sing the Body Electric!, Quicker Than the Eye, and Driving Blind. In all, Bradbury has published more than thirty books, close to 600 short stories, and numerous poems, essays, and plays. His short stories have appeared in more than 1,000 school curriculum "recommended reading" anthologies. Mr. Bradbury's eagerly awaited new novel, From the Dust Returned, will be published by William Morrow at Halloween 2001. Morrow will release One More For the Road, a new collection Bradbury stories, at Christmas 2001.

********

On the occasion of his 80th birthday in August 2000, Bradbury said, "The great fun in my life has been getting up every morning and rushing to the typewriter because some new idea has hit me. The feeling I have every day is very much the same as it was when I was twelve. In any event, here I am, eighty years old, feeling no different, full of a great sense of joy, and glad for the long life that has been allowed me. I have good plans for the next ten or twenty years, and I hope you''ll come along."
Much more at: http://www.raybradbury.com/

For a listing of his books, collections and poems, see the Internet Book List website: http://www.iblist.com/author87.htm

And if you haven't seen them before, don't miss the videos of a 2000 interview with Ray Bradbury in this series called "At Home With Ray": http://www.raybradbury.com/at_home_clips.html#

[DerekG]

1. His post-war horror stories have stayed with me

"The Small Assassin" and "The October Game" are particularly unnerving. Come autumn, I'll be cracking open "Dark Carnival" and "October Country."

A toast, to one of the great American storytellers. :toast:

[NMMNG]

2. I adore the writings of Bradbury

I'm in the middle of a re-reading of Fahrenheit 451 right now.

[manic expression]

3. In his own words:

"(George W. Bush is) wonderful. We needed him. Clinton is a s***head and we're glad to be rid of him. And I'm not talking about his sexual exploits. I think we have a chance to do something about education.... It doesn't matter who does it -- Democrats or Republicans -- but it's long overdue."
-Ray Bradbury (Salon.com, August 29, 2001)
http://www.spaceagecity.com/bradbury/quotes.htm

edited for quotation.

[LWolf]

4. It's an interesting contradiction.

I love his books; I always have. I met him in the late 80s. He was a political conservative then, too. The man who wrote about the horrors of gov't sponsored censorship supports the Bush agenda. I can't think of a bigger contradiction, although this one comes close:

We had a local political scandal when my son was in the 8th grade. They were doing a class reading of "The Martian Chronicles." One fundie parent not only objected to the use of the (district approved) book in the classroom, she filed suit against the teacher, who was put on leave for a few weeks, and then had to have a "neutral observer" in the class with her until the lawsuit was resolved. This parent had the mayor of a neighboring town, who also happened to be the pastor of a fundamentalist church, writing op-eds, giving frequent interviews to local media, visiting the classroom to observe, and starting a local church-sponsored support team to get "The Martian Chronicles" banned from all local schools. There were some crowded, contentious board meetings for several months. These are the people he considers "like-minded" politically. ?!?

In reality, I think he is part of the "pro-business" wing of the republican party, rather than the religious fanatic cult wing.

Happily, the lawsuit against the teacher was dismissed, she won a counter-suit against the parents, the family was dismissed from that school, and the Martian Chronicles continued on the approved reading lists and library shelves of that district. All this in an avowed right-wing community. Meanwhile, I still enjoy Bradbury, and am willing to recognize the value of his novels, if not his politics.

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

6. I never thought he was that right wing until I saw that quote.

Seriously, I noticed that a lot of his stories focused on the horrors of war and the ever-present doom of nuclear war that hung over the world in the 50's through the 80's.

And "Farenheit 451" was his big scream against censorship...never thought that was a very conservative stance, actually.

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

5. Thank you for posting this quote.

I stood in line for an hour when Ray Bradbury came to my alma mater to dedicate our new library. I brought my well-read copy of "The Martian Chronicles": the first science fiction story I ever read, and one of my favorites, for him to sign. He did stay until everyone who was standing in line got to meet him, so I'll salute him for that. I even told him that it was his writing that made me want to become a writer. His response: "well, good!"

Then I heard about that quote, and the autographed copy of "The Martian Chronicles" was put away (it had previously occupied a place of honor on a shelf.)

I'd love to talk to him today to ask him about his "wonderful" President now.

It hurts when the people you admire turn out to be fucking idiots.

On Edit: Spelled "quote" wrong. Some writer I am.

[catbert836]

7. Bet he's changed his mind about W, though.

That quote was in 2001, largely before most of the PATRIOT Act censorship laws had come into te public eye. It could be he's changed his mind- he always was very anti-censorship. Even if he is a conservative, there's many who don't like the Chimp. And plus, a lot of conservatives/Republicans hate W as much as we do for being a radical under the control of the Neocons, Christian Right, and Big Business. It could be he has too.
Just my $0.02

[catbert836]

8. Well, no matter his political standings

he's still a great writer. I don't let people's political affiliation get in the way of me justly admiring them for their talents.

[ExclamationPoint]

9. He and George Orwell

taught me to appreciate science fiction's ability for social protest. I am greatful.

[niallmac]

10. Just re-read Fahrenheit 451

My wife and I are blown away at its' relevance today. We are going to have a book party to discuss ..'451'. I forgive Rays adoration of dubya. That was then. This is now. But even if his politics were right of Attila I care not. This one book gives me such energy to fight the fight.