I am sure that most people posting on this board would agree that no honor is too great for Mr. Ray Douglas Bradbury.

Each of these three honors mentioned below would require substantial time and substantial effort from supporters, i.e. ourselves. Each of these might require in depth investigation, discussion, and organization in order to be successful. If any efforts similar to these have already been initiated, pardon me for not being aware of them. I, myself, will do what I can. By posting this info below, I am first of all just trying to start a discussion with and among all of you.

*********************************************************************

Knighthood?
According to http://ask.yahoo.com/20020501.html
The U.K. Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs usually nominates foreigners for knighthood and similar honors. Foreign knighthoods are conferred based on a person's contribution to relations between their country and Britain.

Therefore, one should contact would be Rt Hon William Hague MP,
First Secretary of State, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about...isters/william-hague
You can contact him by twitter or facebook to nominate Ray Bradbury for royal honors.

************************************************************************

Nobel Prize?
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobe...terature/nomination/

Qualified Nominators

The right to submit proposals for the Nobel Prize in Literature shall, by statute, be enjoyed by:
1. Members of the Swedish Academy and of other academies, institutions and societies which are similar to it in construction and purpose;
2. Professors of literature and of linguistics at universities and university colleges;
3. Previous Nobel Laureates in Literature;
4. Presidents of those societies of authors that are representative of the literary production in their respective countries.

Therefore, let us begin a dialogue concerning what individuals in our collective contacts would satisfy these requirements.

************************************************************************

U.S. Postage Stamp?

The Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee receives as many as 40,000 suggestions for new stamps each year and culls them down to about 50 finalists, which are sent to the postmaster general for a final decision. Since the selection process takes at least three years, perhaps a target date of 2020 -- Bradbury's centennial year -- should be considered. (For full info: http://about.usps.com/who-we-a...visory-committee.htm)

Send your stamped cards, letters or petitions in nomination for a postage stamp to honor Ray Bradbury to:

Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee
c/o Stamp Development
U.S. Postal Service
1735 North Lynn St., Suite 5013
Arlington, VA 22209-6432.

Perhaps attempting a massive national petition drive is the way to go here.

************************************************************************

I ask Phil and all of you to please make this a serious, mature, practical minded, results driven thread on The Ray Bradbury Board. Let us welcome any and all volunteers and any and all comments, especially from Ray's family and close friends. Let's talk about all of this and determine what can and should actually be done to honor Ray.

Let me be the first one to reply to my own post with these reservations.

If any of these honors are not quite appropriate to awarded posthumously, that would immediately eliminate some or all of them. I am not aware of that being a concern with any of these, although, in the case of a U.S. Postage Stamp, there is a new initiative to honor a living person for the first time.

Also, I did not mean to limit the list to the three I mentioned. There are obviously many others. Perhaps some that are more appropriate and not so fraught with competition.

I can almost hear Ray saying, "Thank you, but I already said it all myself, right there on the gravestone: 'Author of Fahrenheit 451'. "

What do YOU think? Let's talk.

Nobel Prize cannot be awarded posthumously. United States Postage stamp must be posthumous. I don't know if they have ever made exception to the rule that the honoree must be dead at least ten years.

You may be right about the Nobel Prize not being awarded posthumously.

However, they have recently changed the rules to allow for living people to appear on U.S. stamps. See: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09...eople-on-stamps.html

Also, concerning a ten year waiting period, I cannot find any mention of such a requirement in the official USPS rules:
http://about.usps.com/who-we-a...visory-committee.htm

Since anniversaries are strongly favored, such as Poe appearing on a stamp to honor the bicentennial of his birth in 2009, Bradbury's best chance might be in 2020, the centennial of his birth. That's only eight years away, and, according to their rules, we might have as much as two or three shots at it, so to speak, since nominees can be resubmitted three years after being rejected.

There has been an on-going effort to have Rod Serling on a stamp. I signed the official on-line petition for that. I would love to see both get the honor, but Bradbury is a major international literary figure.

quote:

Originally posted by Mike Langford:
You may be right about the Nobel Prize not being awarded posthumously.

However, they have recently changed the rules to allow for living people to appear on U.S. stamps. See: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09...eople-on-stamps.html

Also, concerning a ten year waiting period, I cannot find any mention of such a requirement in the official USPS rules:
http://about.usps.com/who-we-a...visory-committee.htm

Since anniversaries are strongly favored, such as Poe appearing on a stamp to honor the bicentennial of his birth in 2009, Bradbury's best chance might be in 2020, the centennial of his birth. That's only eight years away, and, according to their rules, we might have as much as two or three shots at it, so to speak, since nominees can be resubmitted three years after being rejected.

There has been an on-going effort to have Rod Serling on a stamp. I signed the official on-line petition for that. I would love to see both get the honor, but Bradbury is a major international literary figure.

About the Nobel Prize, I wouldn't know as an absolute fact. My uncle is the "expert" and that's what he says. When he relates a "fact" it is best to check it. There was talk on the board some time ago of bringing Ray to the attention of the Nobel Prize committee. I will bump the thread up so you can read it.

About 2020, I totally agree.

About the stamps, I am pretty sure I signed the Rod Serling petition, if not I want to!

And wow. Ray's postage stamp campaign is already up and running! https://raybradburyboard.com/ev...1083901/m/3827009616

I just posted this in another thread (before seeing this one). The Nobel is definitely not possible. See below:

---------------------------

For information only, here's the process for the Nobel Prize:

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobe...terature/nomination/

But alas it can no longer be awarded posthumously (unless the recipient dies between the announcement and the award ceremony):

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobe...ture/shortfacts.html

Well, dandelion:

Your "expert" uncle was right. At least, this time.

If you go to http://www.nobelprize.org/nobe...ture/shortfacts.html -- and scroll down to the section headed:
"Posthumous Nobel Prizes in Literature", it states, "From 1974, the Statutes of the Nobel Foundation stipulate that a Nobel Prize cannot be awarded posthumously, unless death has occurred after the announcement of the Nobel Prize."

Consequently, Ray missed receiving a well deserved Nobel Prize in Literature.

But please don't apologize for not having thought more about it earlier. I should have. We all should have. I guess we all assumed Ray would Live Forever!

But do let me apologize for not having joined the RB board till now! I knew you guys were here, but, as John Lennon said, "Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans."

You'll note my post at "The Ray Bradbury Postage Stamp campaign" thread. I was Signer Number Five! (And my girlfriend, Kim, who isn't even a member of the RB board -- yet -- was Number Six!)

I transferred the pertinent info about the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee to the other thread. On this thread, I will continue to look into possible honors from the British crown and maybe The Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Maybe you could look up the Rod Serling Petition at GoPetition?

I'm just sad that Ray could be here to witness the outpouring of emotion and appreciation. But I suppose no one gets that opportunity -- unless you're Huck Finn attending his own funeral!

Here's a link to:
Presidential Medal of Freedom - Information and Nominating Procedures
http://www.cpms.osd.mil/ASSETS...on%20and%20image.pdf

It states, in part:
"It is the highest civilian award and most prestigious non-military recognition granted by the United States Government. It is awarded by the President of the United States alone and only to those persons whom he deems to have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors. The medal may be awarded to citizens of other nations and may be awarded posthumously. The granting of the medal may take place at any time during the year and presentation is usually at the held at the White House. As this is nation’s highest civilian recognition, the White House advises that this Medal should be regarded with the same degree of prestige and level of significance as is the Medal of Honor for military personnel."

Previous recipients have included:
Ansel Adams, Photographer
Arthur Ashe, Athlete
Pearl Bailey, Entertainer
Ceasar Chavez, Union Leader
Walter Cronkite, Journalist, TV Anchor
Gen. Colin Powell, Ch. JCS
Majory Stoneman Douglas, Environmentalist
Martha Raye, Entertainer
Mohamed Anwar el-Sudat, Former President of Egypt
R. Sergeant Shriver, Former Head of Peace Corps
Barry Goldwater, United States Senator
W. Averell Harriman, Diplomat
Richard Cheney, Secretary of Defense
Bob Hope, Entertainer, Humanitarian
Barbara Jordan, Member of Congress
Joseph Lane Kirkland, Union Leader
Dr. Jonas Salk, Medical Scientist

Here are several links concerning the nomination process for the U.K. Honours System, which includes the MBE:

http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about...isters/william-hague

http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about...ours/how-to-nominate

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Go...sandmedals/index.htm

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Go...ourssystem/index.htm

http://www.direct.gov.uk/prod_...lasset/dg_202071.pdf

I have not yet been able to determine whether Ray might be eligible for a posthumous award or how likely an award would be, due to his being an American. Can someone help me find authoritative answers to these questions?

Americans can be awarded an honorary knighthood, which is the same as a knighthood except that they can't use "Sir" in front of their name. (So we have Sir Paul McCartney, but Bill gates is NOT Sir Bill Gates, even though he holds a knighthood).

More info, and a list of hon. knights, here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L...sh_knights_and_dames

It is generally accepted that posthumous knighthoods can only be awarded for gallantry. There was a golfer, Henry Cotton , who was "posthumously knighted" in 1988, but he had accepted the honour in his lifetime and died before it could be bestowed. This hasn't stopped lots of people campaigning for posthumous knighthoods for all sorts of people - football manager Brian Clough, comedian Benny Hill among others - but all without success.

All the evidence is that it is too late for Ray to receive a knighthood.

I say let's be content with the enormous list of honours bestowed on Ray buring his lifetime. How many people can say they received all of these?

A stamp is a good idea, and so is naming something after him (a library - but not a freeway!)

To Phil:

I suppose you are right. And I suppose Ray would agree with you. It is an impressive list of honors. Far more than most of his contemporaries and fellow writers, certainly in sci-fi/fantasy.

But one of his most impressive attributes was his modesty! As you said yourself, "Such a modest stone for one so great."

Beside my computer, in the middle of the first of three pages of single-spaced handwritten notes, full of my thoughts about Bradbury, written the day he died, it reads "U.S. Stamp -- Nobel Prize -- Sainthood". But in honor of his monumental modesty, I promise I will resist the temptation to petition the Vatican.

One more question: Do you think the effort to petition the Postal Service for a Bradbury stamp should be aimed at having the stamp officially issued on his hundredth birthday in 2020? It may be the best strategy since the Postal Service prefers centennials and bicentennials.

A centennial sounds good to me, but I have no knowledge of the US mail and its decisions!

I've thought of another thing to lobby for, though: a Google Doodle on Ray's birthday.

quote:

Originally posted by philnic:
A centennial sounds good to me, but I have no knowledge of the US mail and its decisions!

I've thought of another thing to lobby for, though: a Google Doodle on Ray's birthday.

Perfect!

Pumpkins for the O's !

Or his trademark glasses!