Ray Bradbury dead at 91

Ray Bradbury at ComicCon in San Diego - July, 2006

Photo by Sophia Quach

It brings me great sadness to say that author Ray Bradbury passed away Tuesday night, June 5, 2012, at age 91 . He leaves a legacy behind of great novels and short stories such as Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and From The Dust Returned. He also worked on television, adapting a lot of his short stories into teleplays for "Ray Bradbury's Theater," writing episodes for "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" and even writing an episode of the "Twilight Zone" called "I Sing the Body Electric!"

Bradbury was born on August 22, 1920 in Waukegan, Illinois, but his family moved to Los Angeles in 1934, where he attended Los Angeles High School until 1938. According to Ray Bradbury's website, "he became a student of life, selling newspapers on L.A. street corners from 1938 to 1942, spending nights in the public library and his days at the typewriter." Not much changed in his older age, except the selling of newspapers, as can be seen in his quote said on his 80th birthday.

He said "The great fun in my life has been getting up every morning and rushing to the typewriter because some new idea has hit me. The feeling I have every day is very much the same as it was when I was twelve. In any event, here I am, eighty years old, feeling no different, full of a great sense of joy, and glad for the long life that has been allowed me. I have good plans for the next ten or twenty years, and I hope you'll come along."

As a fan of his writing, I can say that we were all privileged to come along, some longer than others, this entire time. And even though he is gone, I foresee a future of followers to come, those who will be influenced by his words, his actions and his life.