R.I.P. Ray Bradbury

We've lost one of the truly great, all-time masters. Ray Bradbury has left this world to travel to the other reaches.

This note about his work has been on my Writing Masters page.

He's one of the world icons of literature, whose work is enduring and powerful. One of the earliest short stories I remember is an excerpt from Dandelion Wine, about a teenage boy getting new sneakers at the start of Summer. The description of the feeling, of the endless possibilities, of the dreams of freedom and yearning was amazing, and made me see things in a whole new light.

Of course there are the classics, and quite an array of them. The story "A Sound of Thunder," where one time-travelling misstep has major consequences, and which sets the bar for time travel stories. Fahrenheit 451, a chilling comment on one potential (and ever-more likely) future. Something Wicked This Way Comes, the ultimate Halloween classic. The Martian Chronicles and what hapens when we venture there, for he assumed it was inevitable, as it should have been. Now it looks like we'll stay on this planet until we're gone. Sad, somehow, when we could have had the stars.

Ray Bradbury was always a dreamer of what could be, good and bad. His stories are pure magic, tales that delight, instruct, and entertain. If you haven't read him for awhile, seek out some of his work.