{"id":6179,"date":"2012-06-07T10:53:01","date_gmt":"2012-06-07T14:53:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scifisaturdaynight.com\/?p=6179"},"modified":"2013-02-17T08:00:13","modified_gmt":"2013-02-17T13:00:13","slug":"ray-bradbury-the-last-grand-master","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/scifisaturdaynight.com\/?p=6179","title":{"rendered":"Ray Bradbury – The Last Grand Master"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ray Bradbury Grand Master of Science Fiction<\/p><\/div>\n

The great authors of science fiction are often grouped into categories and historical time frames. First came the Innovators:\u00a0 Jules Verne, Edgar Allan Poe, and Edgar Rice Burroughs. The next group are affectionately called the Grand Masters of Modern Science Fiction, a group that consists of four\u00a0 amazing and talented men: Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlien, and Ray Bradbury<\/a>, who passed yesterday at the age of 91.<\/p>\n

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Born in 1920, Bradbury\u00a0was a voracious reader and was influenced by the work of\u00a0 Poe, Burroughs, and Verne.\u00a0\u00a0 His habit was to write every single day whether \u00a0the muse was present for hours or\u00a0for a few moments.\u00a0 Libraries, books and writing were constant companions throughout his entire life. He fought tirelessly for literacy, libraries, and reading programs throughout his life. In an interview in 2009, he said,<\/p>\n

Libraries raised me. I don\u2019t believe in colleges and universities. I believe in libraries because most students don\u2019t have any money. When I graduated from high school, it was during the Depression and we had no money. I couldn\u2019t go to college, so I went to the library three days a week for 10 years.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

His obsession with the written word stayed with him his entire life. His works became apocryphal. His messages were universal. His appeal spanned generations and genre’s. Francois Truffaut translated Fahrenheit 451<\/em> into a film. Rod Steiger played the Illustrated Man. Jason Robards\u00a0 terrified us in Something Wicked This Way Comes<\/em>. NPR produced Bradbury 13<\/em>, which won a Peabody Award. His work will continue for many years to come with the efforts of\u00a0 The Center for Ray Bradbury Studies<\/a>\u00a0in Indiana.<\/p>\n

Who doesn’t know Bradbury’s work? His ISFDB<\/a> pages lists his written accomplishments, but there is something that a listing of all those awards, accolades, and published books cannot say. Ray Bradbury brought wonder into the world. Of the Grand Masters, it was he who took\u00a0 us to Mars, the carnival , The Halloween Tree, The October Country….<\/p>\n

He sang the body electric, and I mourn his passing.<\/p>\n

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