How can he be gone? Yes, I do understand that he was as
human as the rest of us, supposedly, but as another writer I know said, I never
imagined my living without him in the world. He was my first true love when it
comes to reading. He gave my imagination permission to stretch out beyond the boundaries
I lived in. He scared me. He made me think. He painted pictures with his words
and ideas. I could always visualize what I was reading about and that sometimes
made it more than scary, more than real; more than wonderful. He inspired me.
It’s hard to think that perhaps a world might exist like the
one he painted in Fahrenheit 451, but in truth, we’ve already seen this and
worse. I think the melancholy thread that ran through so much of his work
brought those works home to my heart. I could sympathize, I could relate, I could
live and breathe in the stories he told. I sit here now crying as if I’d
actually known Ray Bradbury as a friend. I can imagine that, to an extent,
because that is the kind of writer he was. He brought you into his world (s).This
is the legacy he left to me and to everyone else.
I’ve always wanted to be a writer because I so loved
stories. My dad wrote. And I read Ray Bradbury and others in my forming years
to distraction. I don’t know how old I was when I read my first Ray Bradbury,
but I stood beside that little boy at the fence watching rocket ships take off,
dreaming of reaching into the stars and finding adventure and wonder there. 
So, I will stop writing this now or I’ll go on all day. I am
grieving that I never met him in person, that I didn’t take the time to write
to him and tell him how he touched me, but that is my own grief. He had no need
of knowing that from me. I will treasure him, and the gifts he left for us, forever
in my heart. And later, when my grief is muted to sadness, the true test I face
will be to once again tap on these keys and try to do justice to the wonder he
gave my soul permission to feel.
Good bye Ray Bradbury. I hope you are on Mars looking back
at us and laughing.
Images from:
hereandnow.wbur.org
imgace.com
fishink.us
I was also saddened by this news. He was one of the greats, and, from what I understand, really generous toward other writers, especially newbs.
ReplyDeleteSadly, like so many other great authors, I have never read his books. Interestingly they showed an interview on CBS Sunday Morning, this morning from, I think they said the 1980's, where he talked about how one day we would be carrying our reading material in our front shirt pockets. Clearly a visionary! I know it happens every year, but each year I get older the famous people who pass away seems more and more relevant. I guess because they are the names I grew up with.
ReplyDelete