Author Ray Bradbury Dies At 91

Los Angeles Times ^ | June 6, 2012 | Lynell George

[Iron Munro]

Ray Bradbury, the writer whose expansive flights of fantasy and vividly rendered space-scapes have provided the world with one of the most enduring speculative blueprints for the future, has died. He was 91.

Bradbury's daughter confirmed his death to the Associated Press on Wednesday morning. She said her father died Tuesday night in Southern California.

Author of more than 27 novels and story collections — most famously “The Martian Chronicles,” “Fahrenheit 451,” “Dandelion Wine” and “Something Wicked This Way Comes” — and more than 600 short stories, Bradbury has frequently been credited with elevating the often maligned reputation of science fiction. Some say he singlehandedly helped to move the genre into the realm of literature.

“The only figure comparable to mention would be [Robert A.] Heinlein and then later [Arthur C.] Clarke,” said Gregory Benford, a UC Irvine physics professor and Nebula Award-winning science fiction writer. “But Bradbury, in the ‘40s and ‘50s, became the name brand.”

[bigheadfred]

R.I.P. Ray. :-(

[Tanniker Smith]

Thanks for the ping. Sneak preview of tomorrow's comic:

[BigCinBigD]

“Much have I traveled in the realms of gold”

Rest in peace.

[M1903A1]

I have one of those great “Images Of America” books by Arcadia Press on Waukegan, Illinois. I was able to match up a number of locations in Green Town to real-life Waukegan.

For instance, the ravine through the middle of town, with its scary-at-night walkway, was very real.

[Mad Dawgg]

Isn't it interesting that of all the dystopian futures conjured up in books that the ones based on a liberal’s wet dream seem to be coming true? (Fallen Angels, 1984, Brave New World, and Atlas Shrugged)

[Vaquero]

read his short stories....

a good compilation is ‘golden apples of the sun’ and find “The Sound of thunder” a great scifi story from 1952

[jboot]

Interesting is a word for it, I suppose. I recall reading Harlan Ellison’s dystopian anthologies ‘Dangerous Visions’ and ‘Again, Dangerous Visions’ thirty years ago and saying “nah, there’s no way any of this stuff can ever happen”. I am sorry to be wrong on more counts than I can think of. Just to name one, Niven’s ‘The Jigsaw Man’ is going down as we speak in China.

[jboot]

The books are way better than the movies.

[iceskater]

I grew up reading Heinlein, Asimov, and Bradbury.

Me too.
Rest in peace, Mr. Bradbury.