Posted on 06/06/2012 8:04:35 AM PDT by 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimesblogs.latimes.com ...
I have multiple books from Mr. Bradbury. From signed limited editions to dime store paperbacks, and his imagination never failed to amaze me.
He will be missed.
Mr Bradbury, thank you very much for all the wonderful stories.
Eternal Rest
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May they rest in peace. Amen.
Requiem Æternam
Réquiem ætérnam dona eis, Dómine,
et lux perpétua lúceat eis.
Requiéscant in pace. Amen.
I read The Martian Chronicles until the cover literally fell off.
RIP Mr. Bradbury.
I hope Ray gets to enjoy flying, now
RIP and thanks.
A long life. Not many live to 91. Prayers to his family.
LOL. That's something I'd never thought of before. Wonder if they change it in the story.
FYI
Mine as well. And another great story messed up by a Hollywood movie.
The reason for the title, of course, is that is the temperature at which paper burns. I wonder if that is precisely 451.0 degrees. The Celsius equivalent was calculated from exactly 451 degrees—but is that exactly the temperature at which paper burns in the Celsius scale? They could be off by a couple tenths of a degree.
Thank you, Ray, for all your great science fantasy, as well as your mentoring of countless other science fantasy writers - yes, even those who delude themselves to think they’re writing science fiction. :)
Karen’s birthday party will be that less bright with you absent.
I had the great good fortune to have had a high school English teacher who was a Bradbury fan. She loaned me some of his books, and I was hooked. The man could conjure feelings like no one I’d read before.
Farewell Mr. Bradbury. You will forever occupy a unique niche in American literature and we are all the richer for having enjoyed your works.
NSFW
Me too. He was first of all a brilliant wordsmith who could vividly re-create on the written page the wonderful and fantastic places his unique mind took him. By showing me those places, he gave me the freedom to explore similar hidden vistas within myself. RIP Ray. Thanks for all the wondrous insights.
Ping for one of your faves.
RIP, Ray Bradbury.
“His stories of small town life were my favorite even more than the future stories.”
Did he write the story about the two small boys, bored on a summer day, who decided to go visit the “Time Machine”?
They walked a few blocks to a house with an old geezer sitting on the front porch.
“Hey, Mr. Jones, tell us about when you were a kid!”
It was either Bradbury or Heinlein, but I think Bradbury.
Great writers, both!
God rest ye gentle soul, Mr. Bradbury.
God rest ye gentle soul, Mr. Bradbury.
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