Ray Bradbury is extremely powerful. Through his works and words, this site was created! We have all gathered here together and we discuss his works as if we were like family. I came to this site seeking help for a research project for some guy i've never heard of. Then I met people on this board, I read his books, I gave a great research report, but most importantly, I learned some new views on life.

I am a Junior in High School right now, yes that's right, I'm a young generation reading Bradbury books. Ray's books are so powerful to me, i've become a changed person. The whole way I look at society, the new persona I portray. My teacher was so thrilled.

I'm very glad to have meet you all through Ray's words and wisdom, and I feel somewhere deep inside that Ray meant for us to be here like this today. He wanted his views to be recognized just like we are doing in these boards. Of course, you have your occasional immature child that loves to stir up trouble on the internet (bradburysmells) but we, the true fans, can overlook it.

I guess what I am trying to say is that, i'm very happy to have a place like this where I can go and feel at peace with my self and my views on life and today's ever ever higher class society.

Sincerely, MadDog

[This message has been edited by MadDog (edited 03-05-2003).]

I couldn't agree more. I first read Bradbury (F451) in 9th grade (1969!) and it literally changed my life. I was magically transformed into a different type of person. Ideas, thoughts, the written word . . . now all mattered to me, and I could not get enough. That sense of the beauty and power of ideas is just as alive in me today as it was back in 1969. When I am in front of a Comm College class and we are hashing out philosophy or literature -- I'm there because Bradbury sent me there. The passion I have in the class and in the text . . .it connects with at least a couple students in each semester. And it is really a powerful thing to see. I get to see people come alive!

Discovering this message board of persons with a shared interest in Bradbury's work (many who know him personally) has been a real inspiration to me. The other thing that has inspired me (along with the wisdom and comraderie of the old coots) is to see that the magic of Bradbury's imagination sets minds on fire today JUST LIKE IT DID when I was younger. Bradbury writes of human truths with such magic that his writing transcends generations. It is exciting for me to read postings by the younger generation (I never thought I'd say that!) and know that we share that fire that Bradbury lit in us. I am older, but the passion I discovered and still feel in Bradbury transcends generations. In this, we are the same. We feel the same things, we are touched by the same talent.

MadDog: Stay the course with your reading of Mr. Bradbury, as well as the many powerful authors and classic early influences to which he alludes in so many of his works. (i.e., Hemingway, Wells, Poe, Bierce, Verne, Bouroughs, G.M. Hopkins, Laurel & Hardy, Karloff, Lon Chaney, Buck Rogers, Tarzan, paintings by Joe Mugnaini, Harry Harryhausen and mythology - from where it all began...to name just a few, few, few!)

Want a real thrill, visually and biographically - get a copy of Bradbury: An Illustrated Life ( A journey to Far Metaphor) by Jerry Weist (2002). Fantastic!!
Your school librarian can do a search and possibly set up an inter-school loan for you.

I started reading RB also when I was in my teens (time sure flies!). Now I teach his works to teens in my classes and on a distance tv course to outlying districts. As a Jr. High student you are "quite articulate" already, as is evident from your post above.

Read on! Write on! Great to have your views here as a part of Mr. Bradbury's bottom line philosophy, "Live Forever!"

Unfortunately, Ray seems to believe in the immortality of his own written works, that is to say....the fruit of his craft, but not in the immortality of his own soul...destined to either wholeness, or destruction...
Thus, ""Live Forever"" ...seems to refer to the work Ray has produced, and the influence on later generations...other than the finished work God has provided ...for Ray's refusal or acceptance.... specifically...Salvation....

NK: My comments to MadDog were meant as a support for his enthusiam for the art of RB. I can not judge the author's soul or mind because I am not privy to it.

His spirit and love for life and people (from what I have read and seen) seem still quite vibrant into his 83rd year. Maybe he is like the aged Buddha, when asked what life was, he responded, "I am always at the beginning."

Well, I stated my statement from what I know....
You can lead a horse to water, but that doesn't mean the one leading the horse isn't himself thirsty....

[This message has been edited by Nard Kordell (edited 03-06-2003).]

maddog--I know exactly how you feel about this board. I "listened in" for two years before I was brave enough to jump on board, but I sure do love it now. I feel like I learn from it every day and like I've made some new friends in the process. And my vivid imagination has images of what I think everyone looks like!! When I've had a bad day, I enjoy coming here to see what's up. It helps me relax, and it also gives me new ideas to think about. So glad to hear you're enjoying Ray! And by the way, you sound like you have your act way more together than I ever did in high school!!

I'm a little nervous about what your visual image might be of me, so let me help. Tall, devastatingly handsome, with a glint of joy and peace in the eye. Very tight abdominals and deeply etched pectorals blending into fully rounded deltoids. Rich, full, soft hair that blows sensually in the wind -- indicating a certain carefree spirit about life. A narrow set of hips sloping up into a powerful set of broad shoulders . . .

Hmmmm. Maybe Ray does inspire Fantasy!!!!

:-)

That's good advice by fjpalumbo -- to read all the stuff Bradbury read. One of his effects on me was to open me up to ideas, which got me interested in religion, philosophy, fantasy, sci fi, literature, poetry, biography, history, political science. Bradbury's sparking of my awareness of ideas took me (and continues to take me) into new realms of personal discovery all the time.

I am frequently told that I think and look far younger than my 47 years. If I take this graciously (and not blow it off as flattery) I believe my youthful outlook is because my excitement at discovering new ideas and in re-exploring my own older ideas has never died since Bradbury turned me on.

If it's not too late, I'd like to say,

Welcome MadDog!

Like Mr. Dark, I find it very exciting and gratifying to see another person discovering the magic of Bradbury for the first time. Thanks for sharing your excitment with us!

If I could go into old geezer mode for a moment, I remember when I was a Sophmore in high school and I had my wisdom teeth taken out. I was laid up for a week and decided to catch up on some reading that I couldn't otherwise get to. I sent my mom to the library with a list of books like "Stranger in a Strange Land" and "Lord of the Flies" and "anything by Bradbury". It was a real awakening for me. I felt like my mind was set on fire. I felt really ALIVE. That's the power of books. I've never forgotten that feeling.

It was after I joined this board (LONG after High School!) that I realized how fortunate I was to live in Southern California. My God! I'm Ray's neighbor! I made it a major goal to meet him in person, and I finally did this last year in Long Beach. It was everything I had built it up to be in my mind and more! I hope you get the chance someday, MadDog.

lmskipper, with a name like WritingReptile, I hate to think WHAT you imagine I look like.

[This message has been edited by WritingReptile (edited 03-07-2003).]

Yes, MadDog, welcome! The more the merrier! Except for being bright and sunny by nature, I look nothing like a weed. I'm devastatingly gorgeous, too, but also protected by a magic enchantment so that only truly gifted people recognize it.

Dandelion - "devastatingly gorgeous" is how I've always imagined you must look!

MadDog::

Ray Bradbury changed my life...very, very much so...

I never would have gone places, done things, seen things that I did...if it were not for discovering a connection with him....

But...far, very far down the road...I came to a gulf...an immeasurable, unpassable gulf...between myself, and understanding Ray any further.... Looking back, I believe this iwas as far as Ray could take me....

It was then that God Himself brought me to a place where His word...now became real. That is to say, where the character of His son, Jesus Christ, would begin to take hold....

That road has been a long, long winding and nearly always...impossible for human endeavor to walk. It was built that way so we depend on Him. THIS road is incredibly magnificent...because, among other things, one truly ..."lives forever" here....

I read Ray Bradbury now and I can see the images beyond what he is expressing.... I finally have a glimpse of what the mystery of his writing is...and that is it's ...God breathing in our direction...

...even tho Ray persists in giving us the sources of this 'air'...as family, long cool evening conversations on summer steps in mythical / real Green Town, or the wonder of white cool, incredibly light, summer tennis shoes... Like the magnificent writing, 'Sartos Resartos', there is far grander things beyond the images he writes about, beyond the 'clothing'.... It's all of philosophy ...all of grand literature...all of the best of poetry, and much of scripture, rolled into a great feast....Be wise, and know what you are enjoying at the table he presents...

"God breathing in our direction"

Nard! That's the best five word description of Ray's writing I've ever heard! It encompasses so much.

"God breathing in our direction" . . . I agree, that a Great phrase.

Nard -- I hope you're doing some writing somewhere. Maybe poetry?