Artwork inspired by Bradbury’s work can be found here.
World-famous science fiction and fantasy writer Ray Bradbury has died at 91. To millions of readers, he was a literary giant and a household name. Best known worldwide for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury was also a distinguished author of short fiction; two of his most significant books, The Martian Chronicles and Dandelion Wine, were collections of linked stories.
Bradbury was honored with numerous awards, including an Emmy, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a National Medal of the Arts Award, and a special citation from the Pulitzer Committee. Most importantly, however, Ray Bradbury inspired generations upon generations of writers with his uniquely upbeat, almost childlike exploration of the endless dimensions of fiction. Ray Bradbury was, and still is, that rare writer who loved playing with dinosaurs as a child, and never really stopped.
Bradbury also never really stopped writing. New books have appeared well into the 21st century including Farewell Summer, a sequel to Dandelion Wine. He also just had an essay published in The New Yorker‘s first ever science fiction issue.
His stories aren’t just science fiction; they are among some of the best, most hilarious and heartfelt stories around. The best thing we can do right now is go out and read them. Read “The Wonderful Ice Scream Suit,” “The Smile,” everything in A Medicine for Melancholy. Read The Halloween Tree.
A prehistoric monster in Bradbury’s story “The Fog Horn” is searching for another monster of its own kind. And now, sadly, we’ll forever be lonely monsters searching for someone as wonderful and luminous as Ray Bradbury. We’ll miss you.
Your last paragraph sums it up perfectly. The world feels like a lonelier place.
I am so saddened by this that I’m holding back tears. He was such an increduble inspiration, such an skilled and unique writer, and such an awesome soul. He will be so sorely missed.
“Death doesn’t exist. It never did, it never will. But we’ve drawn so many pictures of it, so many years, trying to pin it down, comprehend it, we’ve got to thinking of it as an entity, strangely alive and greedy. All it is, however, is a stopped watch, a loss, an end, a darkness. Nothing.” ? Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes
RIP, Mr. Bradbury. You have left us a great literary legacy. You will be missed.
I was honored to see and listen to Ray Bradbury at DragonCon in Atlanta one year. It was truly a treat to sit in this respected man’s presence and listen to his tales and remembrances.
His talent will change many young readers and would-be writers for ages, as it has mine already. He was truly a King in the writer’s world. And his works are truly classics and forever will be.
Rachel Bloom’s bawdy tribute to him as an author is a good way to remember him; irreverent & with a grin.
It was a pleasure to read.
RIP
Another founding father of my literary history gone. Rest in peace, and here’s hoping you get to look back from time to time and see the enjoyment in your readers eyes even more clearly.
This hurts.
Ray Bradbury was a SF writer with the soul of a poet. He was a man who did amazing things with the form. Above all, he was an artist, and we’ll never see his like again.
Bye, Ray. We’ll all miss you.
Another bright light in the genre is extinguished. I’m sorry that he’s gone but I am so grateful for the legacy he has left behind.
I’m so grateful for Bradbury’s work, and for his essays in Zen and the Art of Writing. They are my bible. He will be missed.
Noooo! We will always miss you. RIP
This is sad. I was even about to start rereading a lot of his work. Looks like I’ll get around to it even sooner.
Thank you for your great stories Mr. Bradbury
A dismal, sad fog horn
Ray Bradbury is gone.
His books – a sense of wonder
His prose – a sound of thunder
Perhaps, some day, again
There will come soft rain?
(Thanks for the ride, Mr B. I’ve not read nearly as much of your writing as I should have. But what I read, I loved.)
~lakesidey
Fahrenheit 451 was a novel that shaped me as a child, made me who I am today.
I think I’ll dust off my really old copy and give it another read.
R.I.P. Mr. Bradbury you’ll be missed. I can’t wait ’til my library hold comes in; I discovered a collection of short stories I have not read yet. I still miss the Ray Bradbury Theater and I Sing the Body Electric is one of my all time favorite Twilight Zone episodes.
From frost to fire, he was ‘o le tusitala while I was surviving adolescence at High School.
Requiescat in pace, Ray Bradbury. You’ll be missed.
Ray you’ll be greatly missed. I saw you frequently on the local TV stations here in the Palm Springs area where you lived.
Thanks for the entertainment Ray it was good reading.
I’ve got to go cry a bit right now, but then I’m going to build half a sandcastle– just in case. Love you, Ray. Miss you always.
I read “The Fog Horn” in grade school and considering how old I am now, that’s one memorable story.
I also got to attend one of his lectures years ago and chat backstage afterwards. It was so fun!