Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
Very sad news. RIP Mr. Bradbury. Flights of electric grandmothers sing you to your rest.
Broadway Star Joined: 7/20/07
He was , is and always will be one of my favorite authors. One of the great ones. We shall never see the likes of Bradbury again. Thoughts of him bring back my childhood, reading all of his his great stories, they made my heart soar and my childhood was the happier for his genius. RIP kind Sir! Condolances to his Best Buddy Ray Harryhausen on this sad day.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
My first introduction to him was the movie version of Something Wicked This Way Comes. It led me to begin reading his work.
I devoured as many of his books as I could when I was in high school. My mother saw him speak and got him to sign a copy of my favorite, The October Country, to me. One of America's best writers. He will be missed, but forever remembered.
So loved his work. Time to re-re-read Fahrenheit 451 again.
Ray Bradbury Theater: The Screaming Woman
What a giant. RIP, Mr. Bradbury. Reading his work is always such a visceral experience for me.

Back in college, he was a speaker and I was the guy hired to run the sound for him. It was an amazing experience and his stories were fantastic.
I still have his autograph...
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
I do wish someone would do a remake of SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES, and at least try to keep some of the magic and terror of the novel. That film is a real mess.
I remember loving that movie...but I think the last time I watched it I was 9.
I love The Illustrated Man and I Sing The Body Electric
I got to meet him at a university lecture about ten years ago at McGill, and we talked (briefly), mainly about his love of Disneyland actually, and he signed my copies of Dandelion Wine and Something Wicked This Way Comes, two books that have meant so much to me since I was a kid. He was patient, funny, smart and seemed like an absolute sweetheart. RIP
(Has anyone seen the regionally staged musical Jimmy Webb did with him of Dandelion Wine? The two songs that ahve been recorded from it are gorgeous, wistful and seem to capture the feel of the book perfectly)
I haven't seen Something Wicked in a long time, but I remember thinking it captured the feeling of the novel really well. I know there were tons of problems with it, and I don't think Jack Clayton got final cut, though he was a perfect choice as director (Disney seemed to want to change their image at the time to appeal more to teens with darker stories, but then got scared about alienating families). There other horror film from the era, Watched in the Woods--now THAT'S a mess.
As chance wouldhave it, I came home today to find the current New Yorker, a double issue devoted to science fiction, in my mail box. Ray Bradbury rights a great, short, piece about his early exposure and influence from sci fi (even if he says the only science fiction work he ever did was Fahrenheit 451).
Never much cared for his work, but a literary giant nonetheless.
RIP
I made my first attempt at doing a youtube video (it's pretty rough...) as a tribute to Bradbury, and because the song didn't seem to be there yet.
This is Time Flies, as recorded on Michael Feinstein's Jimmy Webb album, from the musical version of Dandelion Wine he co-wrote with Bradbury. I know it had a production at a Florida Shakespeare festival in the late 80s.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNUwdaY7Eus
And for anyone curious, this seems to be the only other song recorded from the show, Webb singing Kangaroo Tennis Shoes, live (which, anyone who's read Wine can easily tell where in the story it fits in).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OUmJb2rcG0
May he Rest in Peace.
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