Ray Bradbury, author of 'Fahrenheit 451,' dies

[srgalahad]

Ray Bradbury, the science fiction-fantasy master who transformed his childhood dreams and Cold War fears into telepathic Martians, lovesick sea monsters, and, in uncanny detail, the high-tech, book-burning future of "Fahrenheit 451," has died. He was 91.

His writings ranged from horror and mystery to humour and sympathetic stories about the Irish, blacks and Mexican-Americans. Bradbury also scripted John Huston's 1956 film version of "Moby Dick" and wrote for "The Twilight Zone" and other television programs, including "The Ray Bradbury Theater," for which he adapted dozens of his works.

"What I have always been is a hybrid author," Bradbury said in 2009. "I am completely in love with movies, and I am completely in love with theatre, and I am completely in love with libraries."

Bradbury broke through in 1950 with "The Martian Chronicles," a series of intertwined stories that satirized capitalism, racism and superpower tensions as it portrayed Earth colonizers destroying an idyllic Martian civilization.

In 2009, at a lecture celebrating the first anniversary of a small library in Southern California's San Gabriel Valley, Bradbury exhorted his listeners to live their lives as he said he had lived his: "Do what you love and love what you do."



http://www.globaltvcalgary.com/enter...366/story.html

[Daveroo]

ive been telling people all day.."ray Bradbury" has died,,and everyone ive said it to,has said...."who?".....my family siphons sometimes...lol....he witnessed a car crash early on in southern california,,and because of that,he never got a drivers lic,,,yet he wrote those stories,,youd think he would have been fearless...unless his mind thought that stuff up because he was afraid of the boogieman in the closet sorta thing,,,i sometimes wonder about steven king....is he writing about what scares him?..or does he write down what his self awharness wont allow him to do?...

[luckydog]

RIP Ray..........

Dandelion Wine and Something Wicked This Way Comes were two of my favorites.

[Roadburner440]

That is sad. To think he predicted the future in Fahrenheit 451. It is one of my favorite books as a kid. Uncanny now how things are starting to parallel it now though. RIP Mr. Bradbury.

[Roger]

I discovered Ray Bradbury around 1965 and read all I could of his work. I remember him saying that he destroyed something like 1000,000 words of work before he was happy to start selling his stories. As a collection I like "The October Country" perhaps the best. He lived a good long life but I will miss him.

[TeaSea]

"There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them."

"I wonder how many men, hiding their youngness, rise as I do, Saturday mornings, filled with the hope that Bugs Bunny, Yosemite Sam and Daffy Duck will be there waiting as our one true always and forever salvation?

“I don’t believe in being serious about anything. I think life is too serious to be taken seriously.”

RIP Mr. Bradbury.....

[Hern07]

One from the Golden Age of Science Fiction. His descriptions of childhood was awesome. My personal favorite was The Martian Chronicles. He helped form the attitudes of a whole generation.

[deKoven]

@TeaSea "There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them."

Truer words were never spoken; especially in these times all too few ever crack a book, even college people. Just listen to some of our outstanding athletes; I swear ta gosh they never went to school at all. And in business and politics, same-o, same-o !!

Bradbury was never my favorite author but I've read my share of his books. Lets hear it for The Martian Chronicles, yay team.

[hairyspin]

A teacher introduced us to his short stories at high school, especially recommending "There will come soft rains", but my favourite is "The Murderer". When I watch people walking around with phones bolted to their ears I often think he got pretty close with that story. I certainly hope he smiled at the thought.

[cheezyflier]

another good one gone. notice how guys like him don't have anyone of their caliber following in their footsteps? that's just as sad, i think.

[TeaSea]

Those were all Bradbury quotes obviously. He was far from my favorite author as well, but "The Martian Chronicles" was always one of my favorite books.