RIP Ray Bradbury
Sad news: Ray Bradbury has passed away at 91.
I haven’t read anything by him in years, probably since junior high when I voraciously consumed any of his books I could get my hands on. He did however have a big influence on my subsequent science fiction interests, and is one big reason I like Twilight Zone-type material (stories with clever metaphors and unexpected and ironic twists).
The Bradbury story I remember the best is The Veldt. I remember reading it in seventh grade and being shocked at the ending, and yet still amused by the twist involved. Strangely, I’ve never read The Martian Chronicles, a failure I ought to remedy.
Bradbury is also the reason I always carry a notebook with me. I recall reading a magazine article by him when I was 9 or 10 in which he recommended this practice. (I also remember that the article was illustrated with pictures of him amidst the wreckage of the then-being-demolished Apollo launch and service structures – something that gave me some weird deja vu when I saw the dismantled LUT at KSC back in 2002.)
