# Ray Bradbury dead **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 6, 2012, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-bradbury-dead/624268 "2012-06-06T14:39:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-bradbury-dead/624268/41 "2012-06-06T18:30:42Z")
I just read “There Will Come Soft Rains” yesterday for the first time in years, based on a a thread discussion here. I first encountered it in early middle school in an anthology, and it was the very first time I had actually \*enjoyed \*anything out of a school lit book. I was hooked, and went on to read everything I could get my hands on. Great great man. Powerful imagination. Powerful talent. Powerful voice against censorship and against apathy. Very sad day today. ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-bradbury-dead/624268/42 "2012-06-06T18:33:25Z")
I actually met him several times, and have his autograph on my copy of “Twice 22” which is a collection of his short stories. He was a nice man and a helluva writer, especially of short stories. ---
**Author:** ![Atreyu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@Atreyu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atreyu)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-bradbury-dead/624268/43 "2012-06-06T18:44:08Z")
He wrote countless stories that I have enjoyed, and they have already been mentioned in this thread. My introduction to him was the short story “All Summer in a Day” when I was 12 or 13. After that I grabbed everything I could find by him, and never regretted a single moment I spent buried in his books. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-bradbury-dead/624268/44 "2012-06-06T18:48:48Z")
He wasn’t really a science fiction writer as much as he was a story teller of imagination and fantasy. And he said as much himself. Story teller. There was Aesop… a bunch of stuff… and then there was Bradbury. “The Sound of Summer Running” will always be a vessel that captures the essence of me as a young boy, in the Summer, with all the possibilities of life ahead of me. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-bradbury-dead/624268/45 "2012-06-06T18:48:54Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > For an irreverent way to mark his passing, search YouTube for Rachel Bloom’s earnest plea two years ago to her literary hero, titled “Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury.” NSFW, duh. I was going to post this. [Here’s the link](http://youtu.be/e1IxOS4VzKM). Explicit lyrics warning. FMRB was nominated for a 2011 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. [Bradbury’s reaction to the video.](http://www.skepticblog.org/2010/08/24/b-is-for-bradbury/) ---
**Author:** ![Encinitas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Encinitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Encinitas)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-bradbury-dead/624268/46 "2012-06-06T18:51:15Z")
“The Foghorn” was the first science fiction I ever read. He’s got a lot to answer for as I have been addicted every since. Sniff… ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-bradbury-dead/624268/47 "2012-06-06T19:23:02Z")
And Michael Moore’s a thief! An impolite thief! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-bradbury-dead/624268/48 "2012-06-06T19:27:03Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > My favorite has always been _Something Wicked This Way Comes_. And mine. ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-bradbury-dead/624268/49 "2012-06-06T19:48:55Z")
I, too, discovered Ray Bradbury when I was around 12 or 13. He gave me a lot to dream about. RIP, super-distant-cousin Ray. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-bradbury-dead/624268/50 "2012-06-06T20:09:27Z")
I love his work so much. He is one of the few writers who was able to capture the ineffable. My favorite, oddly enough, is _The Wonderful Ice-Cream Suit._ ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-bradbury-dead/624268/51 "2012-06-06T20:11:17Z")
I’ve always been a reader, but didn’t start devouring books until I discovered Bradbury, Asimov, Ellison, et al. Bradbury’s writing was so well-thought out and elegantly written, that you could almost believe it was true (or at least plausible). ---
**Author:** ![Fir\_na\_tine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fir\_na\_tine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fir_na_tine)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-bradbury-dead/624268/52 "2012-06-06T20:24:08Z")
One of the immortals of my youth. Used to haunt the local library waiting for his next book to come out. Once I was working I began a collection of my own. Great companionship on a quiet night. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-bradbury-dead/624268/53 "2012-06-06T21:29:24Z")
Oh, wow! ☹ Still, 91 is a good long life. I think I have most of his books, read numerous times. RIP, sir, and thanks so much. My favorite book was The Martian Chronicles (‘we are the Martians’). My favorite story was The October Game (…‘and then some idiot turned on the light’). And he wrote about a very peculiar family…dare I say they were Addams-esque? Proved to be so some years ago, when From The Dust Returned came out, about this family, and the cover illustration by his friend from the 60’s, Charles Addams. Finally, I remember the first pictures of the surface of Mars on the evening news, and an interview with Ray Bradbury. RIP, sir. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-bradbury-dead/624268/54 "2012-06-06T21:43:58Z")
Not much to say here. He was the original creative SF author to me. It wasn’t just science, he wove stories from many types of thread. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-bradbury-dead/624268/55 "2012-06-06T21:49:29Z")
I recently read an interview he gave. He seemed quite happy and content with his life. RIP . ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-bradbury-dead/624268/56 "2012-06-06T21:50:00Z")
He was one of a dying breed: masters of the short story. The earliest I remember encountering him would have been when I was around 11 or 12 and Scholastic book club published a SF/horror/fantasy-themed magazine called “Weird Worlds” (edited by Bob Stine, later to be known as R. L. Stine of _Goosebumps_ fame) that reprinted several Bradbury stories, including “All Summer in a Day” and “The Emissary.” ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-bradbury-dead/624268/57 "2012-06-06T21:50:23Z")
I was lucky enough to talk to him via Skype after the Gene Siskel Film Center’s screening of _Fahrenheit 451_. Kind of a silly-looking movie, and no matter what insane stuff Mel Gibson says in his personal life, I’m sure he could have produced an excellent version of that story. As it is, the best production of a Bradbury story is Jack Clayton’s excellent _[Something Wicked This Way Comes](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086336/)_. So long, Ray. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-bradbury-dead/624268/58 "2012-06-06T21:54:39Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Oh, wow! ☹ Still, 91 is a good long life. I think I have most of his books, read numerous times. RIP, sir, and thanks so much. > > My favorite book was The Martian Chronicles (‘we are the Martians’). My favorite story was The October Game (…‘and then some idiot turned on the light’). And he wrote about a very peculiar family…dare I say they were Addams-esque? Proved to be so some years ago, when From The Dust Returned came out, about this family, and the cover illustration by his friend from the 60’s, Charles Addams. Finally, I remember the first pictures of the surface of Mars on the evening news, and an interview with Ray Bradbury. RIP, sir. He was also life long friends with Ray Harryhausen, also 91 and still kickin’. What is it with Rays and brilliant works of creative fiction? Maybe Harryhausen can reanimate him. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-bradbury-dead/624268/59 "2012-06-06T22:00:02Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > …And he wrote about a very peculiar family…dare I say they were Addams-esque? Proved to be so some years ago, when From The Dust Returned came out, about this family, and the cover illustration by his friend from the 60’s, Charles Addams… Ah, yes, the Elliotts: [From the Dust Returned - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_the_Dust_Returned) ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2012, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-bradbury-dead/624268/60 "2012-06-06T23:36:05Z")
> [@Chicken\_Fingers](#): > > I, too, discovered Ray Bradbury when I was around 12 or 13. And another one here. I was mostly a fan of his short stories as opposed to his novels, but _Something Wicked This Way Comes_ was wonderfully spooky when I was a lad. RIP Mr. Bradbury. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-bradbury-dead/624268.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ray-bradbury-dead/624268.md?page=4)