Ray Bradbury Dies At 91

I wasn't even going to mention it. But Bradbury meant a
great deal to me at one time. I adored him in the 60's,
he was the only author I knew who could write poetry
as prose. His short stories are wonderful. His novels too.

'Something Evil This Way Comes' is a masterpiece.
Even the movie isn't bad. He captures what goes on
in young boys minds perfectly. I would read his
compilations of stories in paperback in class instead
of doing the schoolwork, its amazing that I graduated.

Here's an excerpt from Dandelion Wine. Great stuff:

"The sidewalks were haunted by dust ghosts all night as
the furnace wind summoned them up, swung them about
and gentled them down in a warm spice on the lawns.
Trees, shaken by the footsteps of late-night strollers, sifted
avalanches of dust. From midnight on, it seemed a volcano
beyond the town was showering red-hot ashes everywhere,
crusting slumberless night watchman and irritable dogs. Each
house was a yellow attic smoldering with spontaneous
combustion at three in the morning."

It's a shame, but it had to happen sometime. Based on average life expectancy, he was well overdue.

I greatly enjoyed Fahrenheit 451 (though that movie stunk, in my opinion), "There Will Come Soft Rains," "The Martian Chronicles," and, of course, Something Evil This Way Comes.

I would suggest that Fahrenheit 451 will cement his legacy of a great dystopia author for all time. I can envision it being required material hundreds of years from now, much in the way that Romeo & Juliet, Don Quixote (Book 1) and Candide are required material at many schools.

The most interesting thing I know about Ray Bradbury is that he wrote Fahrenheit 451 on a typewriter in a basement library for $0.10 every thirty minutes. The book was originally going to be called, The Fireman, as well, but I think most people are aware of the latter fact.

A great author and a great man, may he rest in peace.

Will they cremate him at 451 degrees Fahrenheit just to be ironic?

Quote: DrJohn

Will they cremate him at 451 degrees Fahrenheit just to be ironic?

That was an excellent, yet inappropriate joke. It also would not be nearly hot enough.

Like so many authors, he wrote all his good stuff before he was
50, most of it long before. And he was 50 in 1970. Hemingway
was pretty much done in his early 40's. They seem to get
burned out, run low on good ideas. Such a shame.

Fahrenheit 451 really impacted me and taught me the power and beauty of good fiction. May he rest in peace!