OT: RIP Ray Bradbury

DaWaterRatDaWaterRat Posts: 2,885
edited December 1969 in The Commons

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-author-ray-bradbury-dead-20120606,0,3320611.story

I didn't read everything of his, but I can't deny the impact those stories I did read had on my own storytelling. And he gave me my working definition of Science Fiction vs Fantasy.

And the Speculative Fiction world gets a little dimmer.

Comments

  • TimesurferTimesurfer Posts: 96
    edited December 1969

    just heard about this... amazing writer... he will be missed :(

  • s l fs l f Posts: 147
    edited December 1969

    Sad news.

    I've enjoyed reading a lot of his work over the years - an amazingly gifted writer I had always thought.

  • RAMWolffRAMWolff Posts: 10,212
    edited December 1969

    WOW, this has been a year of loss! R.I.P. Ray! *sigh..* :long:

  • LycanthropeXLycanthropeX Posts: 2,287
    edited December 1969

    oh noooooooo :(

  • frank0314frank0314 Posts: 14,045
    edited December 1969

    Very sad news. I enjoyed and grew up watching all his stuff.

  • edited June 2012

    Very sad. I did this only a few months ago...

    The Fog Horn blew. The monster opened its great toothed mouth and the sound that came from it was the sound of the Fog Horn itself. Lonely and vast and far away. The sound of isolation, a viewless sea, a cold night, apartness. That was the sound.

    Edit: Sorry for this - how does one set the size of the pictures in this new forum?

    Image remove for image size. Please refer to this for details. http://www.daz3d.com/forums/categories/98/

    Post edited by frank0314 on
  • DestinysGardenDestinysGarden Posts: 2,550
    edited December 1969

    Very sad news indeed. My dad likes to tell the story of how he met Ray Bradbury in an elevator once. Still 91 years is a really good run. We shall never forget his contributions to the world of literature.

  • ChuckdozerChuckdozer Posts: 453
    edited December 1969

    I just learned this very sad news. I grew up with a great number of Ray's works populating my bedroom bookshelf alongside other greats like Arthur C. Clarke, Tolkien, and Samuel R. Delaney. So much of his work was translated into television and film, and his enormous talent places his works clearly among the "Classics". He will surely be missed. It's kinda like loosing someone I grew up with, and that is always so very sad. Rest in peace, Ray! You will forever live on through your works.

  • StorypilotStorypilot Posts: 1,674
    edited December 1969

    A true great one. I loved the unique voice of his stories, and we are blessed to have the tremendous body of work he created over his lifetime. He's been a major inspiration to scores of writers, and I would have to include myself as one. I can't try to write a story without thinking of "The Veldt".

  • natrix natrixnatrix natrix Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    He was a fairytale writer who didn't write fairytales - well mostly. His language was so dreamy and beautiful, he was a great inspiration to me during my formative years.
    I love his sci-fi work, but the short story collection A Medicine for Melancholy remains my favourite. Rarely have I been so moved by anything I read.
    RIP to a great man!

  • Norse GraphicsNorse Graphics Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Wow! That's sad. But 91 is a very good run, so he's seen things we'll never see. He lived from the age of the transistor, to see handheld devices that uses touchscreens.

  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 100,747
    edited December 1969

    He'd been here so long it felt as if he was a permanent fixture. He produced some wonderful work.

  • TheWheelManTheWheelMan Posts: 1,014
    edited December 1969

    I consider him not a "writer" per se, but an excellent storyteller (which of course he was the best of both), and I kind of fancied myself trying to write along the same vein. I am saddened by his loss.

  • mrsparkymrsparky Posts: 248
    edited December 1969

    Now thats sad news, with stories like The Butterfly Effect he was a genius way before his time.
    Even The Pedestrian seems almost prophetic today after hearing this.

  • LycanthropeXLycanthropeX Posts: 2,287
    edited December 1969

    There Will Come Soft Rains was always a favorite of mine. The robotic smart house that continues to do all the chores for a family who has been long dead after a nuclear holocaust

  • STKyddSTKydd Posts: 59
    edited December 1969

    I read all of Bradburys works when i was very young, sad to hear of his passing, seems like all of my favourite authors have left now.

  • ValandarValandar Posts: 1,417
    edited December 1969

    And he wasn't afraid to poke fun at himself, either...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5NxG_rr5aU

  • Eustace ScrubbEustace Scrubb Posts: 2,698
    edited June 2012

    He will be greatly mourned and sadly missed. He inspired many, including myself.

    Rest in (fireproof) peace, Montag.

    Post edited by Eustace Scrubb on
  • StorypilotStorypilot Posts: 1,674
    edited December 1969

    This is a hilarious video for Ray Bradbury fans if you haven't seen it.
    WARNING - it has adult language and content.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1IxOS4VzKM

  • Miss BMiss B Posts: 3,071
    edited December 1969

    I think my favorite was always Fahrenheit 451. Geeze I'm dating myself. That came out in 1953, though my folks wouldn't let me read books like that at age 10. I think I was in high school when I finally got to read it.

  • trilltrill Posts: 43
    edited December 1969

    Fahrenheit 451 has got to be his most famous work and very thought provoking. A Sound of Thunder was the first thing of his I read (in Playboy no less) ;-) Most of the old school sci fi writers are gone So Sad.

  • CbirdCbird Posts: 493
    edited December 1969

    A man who didn't just use language but loved it, and encouraged his readers to love it too.

    I'd recommend To The Dust Returned for anyone curious about more recent work.

  • LycanthropeXLycanthropeX Posts: 2,287
    edited December 1969

    I just watched The Beast From 30,000 Fathoms, it was based on Ray's story The Fog Horn

  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 41,035
    edited December 1969

    ...first heard about Ray's passing in another thread. He was and still is definitely an influence on my work as well.


    He was also a close friend of one of my favourite illustrators. Charles Addams.


    As I mentioned in the other thread, I had the good fortune of meeting him at a sci fi con many years ago.

  • DaWaterRatDaWaterRat Posts: 2,885
    edited December 1969

    His passing made the headlines today in the Chicago Tribune. Front page, above the fold. Heck, top story even. (yes, I still get the actual paper)


    Of course, he was from Waukegan, which is a Chicago Suburb. :)

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