What can one write about a person who wrote stories for a living and did so well that when he dies, it feels like something monumental has just happened? What can you say about someone that many others better equipped to do so have surely already done so?
Well, you can start by mentioning his name. Ray Bradbury is no longer with us, but his presence will be felt for a long time to come.
You can talk about strange, quirky facts that are not well known about the person. For example, you find out from his Wikipedia page that he never ever had a driver's license. Who does that any more?
But, in the end, it would only be fair to talk about what the man's work has meant to you.
Bradbury is most famous for his seminal work - Fahrenheit 451 - but the ones I like even more are A Sound of Thunder and Dandelion Wine. If asked to pick one among them, I'd settle for the former, a story that spawned the phrase "butterfly effect". It is as close to the perfect sci-fi/horror/ominous portent story as there is. I read it when I was barely in my teens and remember it as if I read it a few months ago.
In a career spanning over 7 decades, he produced 27 novels and over 600 short stories, many of them unread by me. And I am grateful for that as it gives me plenty of things to read of his before I get to properly rue his demise. Actually, let me rephrase that. I will not rue his demise since I did not know him personally, but when the time comes I will rue the fact that I will have no more stories to read.
Not many people leave a mark for posterity in their lifetimes. Bradbury did that and much more. If you do one thing for me this year, do this: read a Bradbury story. You will see exactly what I mean.
Well, you can start by mentioning his name. Ray Bradbury is no longer with us, but his presence will be felt for a long time to come.
You can talk about strange, quirky facts that are not well known about the person. For example, you find out from his Wikipedia page that he never ever had a driver's license. Who does that any more?
But, in the end, it would only be fair to talk about what the man's work has meant to you.
Bradbury is most famous for his seminal work - Fahrenheit 451 - but the ones I like even more are A Sound of Thunder and Dandelion Wine. If asked to pick one among them, I'd settle for the former, a story that spawned the phrase "butterfly effect". It is as close to the perfect sci-fi/horror/ominous portent story as there is. I read it when I was barely in my teens and remember it as if I read it a few months ago.
In a career spanning over 7 decades, he produced 27 novels and over 600 short stories, many of them unread by me. And I am grateful for that as it gives me plenty of things to read of his before I get to properly rue his demise. Actually, let me rephrase that. I will not rue his demise since I did not know him personally, but when the time comes I will rue the fact that I will have no more stories to read.
Not many people leave a mark for posterity in their lifetimes. Bradbury did that and much more. If you do one thing for me this year, do this: read a Bradbury story. You will see exactly what I mean.
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