Ray Bradbury--You Will Be Missed |
I love to read and I've always loved reading Ray Bradbury's work. As a junior in high school, he was the author that I chose for my English project. For a part of my classroom presentation, I brought flash paper to school that I got to ignite in class to re-enact the book burning from his classic novel: "Fahrenheit 451." Good times!
Ray Bradbury had the goal to write something everyday. I believe he did so for essentially every single day of his life. He was a champion of free speech and I personally know that he did a lot that was never publicized to make available his works available (without personal compensation) so that young people could be inspired and spark their own imaginations.
Ray Bradbury never got a driver's license. On this planet anyway. He was proud that the people at NASA or the Jet Propulsion Laboratories gave him a driver's license for the Martian Rover on Mars. It was a fitting tribute for a man whose book, "The Martian Chronicles", inspired many a scientist to dream of exploring the red planet.
I never met him, but I am privileged to have a personal friend that was his attorney. A couple of years ago, my friend graciously had Ray Bradbury personally sign a copy of Fahrenheit 451 and The Illustrated Man for me. I love short stories and Ray Bradbury was the master of short stories. The Illustrated Man--a collection of short stories--is probably my favorite work of his. Those two works sit proudly on my office bookshelf today!
My Office Bookshelf As it Appeared This Morning... |
I would have loved to be in your high school English class and see you ignite that paper! Ray Bradbury was a true genius. I'm glad you got a signed copy of his books!
ReplyDeleteIt is fun to see your bookshelf too...cool pic of you dunking and of Baby R reaching for the ball!
I loved F451. This is a wonderful relflection of a very talented creative being.
ReplyDeleteI've never read his work, but thanks to this tribute, they will now go on my to-read list!
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