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OBITUARIES

Legendary Sci-Fi Author Ray Bradbury Passed Away Today at Age 91

by Ethan Anderton
June 6, 2012
Source: io9

"If you enjoy living, it is not difficult to keep the sense of wonder." These words were spoken by sci-fi author Ray Bradbury, and sadly, a little bit of wonder is gone from the universe today as io9 has learned that the iconic and influential writer passed away this morning at 91-years old in Los Angeles. Biographer Sam Weller confirmed his passing which will shake the world of sci-fi today. Bradbury's seminal work includes stories that have made it to the big screen like A Sound of Thunder, The Illustrated Man, It Came from Outer Space and, of course, Fahrenheit 451. And his legacy on TV was impressive, too.

Bradbury also found many of his stories worthy of "The Twilight Zone," "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" and had hundreds of novels, plays, screenplays, TV scripts and more published. Bradbury's grandson Danny Karapetian told io9 this morning:

"If I had to make any statement, it would be how much I love and miss him, and I look forward to hearing everyone's memories about him. He influenced so many artists, writers, teachers, scientists, and it's always really touching and comforting to hear their stories. Your stories. His legacy lives on in his monumental body of books, film, television and theater, but more importantly, in the minds and hearts of anyone who read him, because to read him was to know him. He was the biggest kid I know."

He went on to mention a portion of the introduction to The Illustrated Man which has a section called Dancing, So As Not to be Dead and recalled one of his favorite bits of writing from his grandfather:

"My tunes and numbers are here. They have filled my years, the years when I refused to die. And in order to do that I wrote, I wrote, I wrote, at noon or 3:00 A.M.

So as not to be dead."

Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro also commented on Bradbury's passing to Vulture:

"I feel lonelier. The world is vast and barren: Bradbury was one of the titans of fantastic fiction and a unique voice in American literature. The lyricism of his prose influenced many generations across the globe. A humanist before anything else, Bradbury nurtured my youthful hopes, my flights of fancy. His soul was gentle but his imagination was fierce."

And DreamWorks also sent us a statement from Steven Spielberg:

"He was my muse for the better part of my sci-fi career. He lives on through his legion of fans. In the world of science fiction and fantasy and imagination he is immortal."

Generations of writers, and plenty more to come, are grateful for his dedication to the craft of writing and the genre of science fiction. Bradbury was an iconic, legendary author whose work will last well past his lifetime in literature, TV, film and more. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family. Rest in peace.

Filed under Obituaries, SciFi

From around the web:

peloquin

What a great loss. Fahrenheit 451 was one of the first books I ever read and it helped form the person I am today. He will be greatly missed...
- http://www.facebook.com/StromboliSyndrome Steven Morgan
  
  451 was most including myself favorite book that we had to read in school because it spoke on so many levels of society. Many of which are coming to fruition today.
  - Scopedog
    
    You know, Steven, when I re-read it recently, I got scared--because so much of what it spoke about has come true, to an extent.
- Scopedog
  
  I hear you, Peloquin. Fahrenheit 451 was actually the first SF book I ever read as a kid; quickly followed that with The Martian Chronicles. His short story "The Fog Horn" remains a favorite of mine, and let's not forget one of the best time-travel stories ever written, "A Sound Of Thunder". I always said that growing up, my SF "ABCs" were Asimov, Bradbury, and Clarke. Now all three are gone, and the world is a poorer place for it.
Larry Linn

Bradbury used sci-fi as a vehicle to address the issues of our reality.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJ5hK-D8kRQ Crapola

Sad. I thought he was long dead already. At around 15/16 I read a whole load of his stories. I always liked the story about the man who goes for a walk at night when everyone else is watching tv and ends up getting arrested by an empty robot car. Also the one set after a nuclear explosion where the house keeps making breakfast even though the family are silhouetted on the side of the house, dead. The robots are taking over.
- Scopedog
  
  "Also the one set after a nuclear explosion where the house keeps making breakfast even though the family are silhouetted on the side of the house, dead." That's the classic "There Will Come Soft Rains", which was one of the stories in THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES. A great tale, but a sad one.
  - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJ5hK-D8kRQ Crapola
    
    I used to always draw pictures of Bradbury being pursued by evil robots, I would tell my teacher he was overly paranoid about technology and cynical of human behaviour, but I think now I'm older, I appreciate that story more. As clever as human beings seem to get, however many gadgets we have that make us seem futuristic, at our core we are destructive primitives.
    - Scopedog
      
      "As clever as human beings seem to get, however many gadgets we have that make us seem futuristic, at our core we are destructive primitives." Sad, but unfortunately, very true.
http://twitter.com/davide_coppola Davide Coppola

Will be missed! RIP
David Banner

All good things must come to an end. Have a nice trip Ray and thank you for dreaming for us when we could not.