Ray Bradbury: 1920-2012

What news to wake up to this morning, to hear that the iconic science fiction novelist has left this Earth the night before. What hasn't been said about him, the creator of works such as Fahrenheit 451 and Something Wicked This Way Comes? It is true, I have little to say in terms of his impact, you can only turn to the careers of writers like Richard Matheson and Stephen King to see just two examples of Mr. Bradbury's influence. Instead, I can only offer personal reflections and a few tears.

No writer stepped up in the writing world and made it okay to write about aliens and monsters, do it all straight-faced and still have the work be considered a form of literature, moreso than Mr. Bradbury:

I have never listened to anyone who criticized my taste in space travel, sideshows or gorillas. When this occurs, I pack up my dinosaurs and leave the room.

Besides his fantastic fiction that delighted several generations (so far), he also penned one of the most excellent writing books: Zen in the Art of Writing. In its own slim, succinct way, Bradbury gave you permission to dream, to write things that may not be true "literature". He rooted for you in each page, practically begging you to write whatever your heart and mind desired. He knew that you would have to go through the same trials of fire that he did, but you at least had a friend and supporting rock in him.

Even though now he cannot do it now, with letters or even a phone call, I'm sure he'll continue to be science fiction's greatest cheerleader long into the years, up in the heavens. He'll have Isaac Asimov and Madeleine L'Engle, and of course, his beloved wife Marguerite, to join the squad once again.

You did so much for so many in so much time. Rest in peace, sir.

The magic is only in what books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment for us.

- from Fahrenheit 451