Since Nard has already posted it, I figured I would fill you all in on the sad, sad details. I just got off the phone with Ray and he sends his love and well wishes to you all. You are the reason that Ray moves on with Joy, Zest and Gusto.


Dear Marguerite McClure Bradbury passed yesterday at 3:15 pm in Los Angeles. For those of us who were most fortunate to know her, she was a blessing from the high reaches of heaven. As you all know, Ray Bradbury simply would not have had a career without his dear Maggie. They married on September 27, 1947, and after that she went to work full time so he could stay home and work on his career. Just a few years later, she typed the manuscript for "The Martian Chronicles" for her husband. He dedicated the book to her.

Maggie was the mother of four, the grandmother of eight, and much, much more. She was fluent in four languages. She was a striking bibliophile who loved Marcel Proust and Agatha Christie and -- go figure -- a weird tale writer by the name of Ray Bradbury. Maggie was a great connoisseur of fine wines and never hesitated to pour a deep glass of Merlot for her dear friends. She had a towering sense of humor that ran the gamut from high-brow all the way down to the dear old gutter. She was simply hilarious. Most of all...Maggie loved her cats. She leaves Win-Win and Ditzy to carry on in her beloved name.

On a very personal note, my wife and I were most blessed to have been with Maggie on Saturday and to look her into her loving eyes and to tell her that we loved her. I very much know that God has a special place for this dear, dear woman. I shed tears with you all over this sad turn of events.

But, if I may say so, Mr. Electrico said it for us all who follow the path....

LIVE FOREVER!


ALL BEST,

Sam Weller



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Oh, Sam, you saw her just two days before she died? Was she in the hospital? When I spoke to her she really bragged on Ray's good progress.

And Ray has only two cats now? She mentioned when we talked that a cat had been run over, but I thought perhaps she was talking about something that happened a long time ago. Was one of the three cats they had run over sometime between June and October?

Ray told Nard he could not imagine how hard it had been for him lately. This just adds to an already very trying and sad time for him. Not only did she share him with the world--quite willingly, it seems--she ENABLED him to be shared with the world--for which we owe her an eternal debt of gratitude!

Thank you for the information, Sam. I never had the privilege of meeting her, but I know she was an amazing woman. I worry about Ray and how he will cope with this, but I know his wonderful family and his indomitable spirit will help. I am giving thanks for many people and things at this time of year, and Ray is high on my list because of the wonderful impact he and his books have had on my life. Now I will add his beautiful wife to my list of people I am thankful for. She clearly lifted him to a higher level and helped shape him into the wonderful author he has become. Much as I dislike the phrase, she is truly "the wind beneath his wings."

This summer while interviewing Ray for a video documentary project (still in development) I was lucky enough to finally meet Marguerite in person. We'd talked many times over the years. I knew she was certainly no shrinking violet kept in the shadows of Ray.

She stayed in the room for the interview and was such an attentive, appreciative audience for Ray. Maggie's adoring laughter was present whenever Ray shared one of his humorous tales.

I had wanted to convince Maggie to share some of her insights in a video interview at a future date. Talking with her off-camera she had some interesting experiences and, as Sam said, was a delightfully diverse woman.

Win (the cat) was also immortalized during the interview. During the interview Ray is seated in a favorite leather high-backed lounge chair and Win is curled up on the top, right beside his head. Throughout the session Win gets up to stretch, re-nest, and hop up and down. Ray didn't know about Win's antics until I told him after the shoot. He laughed telling me I was in for some tough negotiations now since Win was in the Screen Actor's Guild!

For me, Marguerite will live forever.

Wayne (from Waukegan, IL)

PS. I'm looking forward to the book, Sam.


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Sam:

Thanks for your post and the expression of your sentiments. I never met Maggie, but have read enough about her to know that she was a tremendous part of Ray's life -- a life truly lived together. The longevity of thier relationship and the obvious closeness between them really stand out in this era of short-term marriages and throw-away relationships.

Ray's ethics seem driven by the underlying force of love -- love of life, love of ideas, and love of people. In Something Wicked This Way Comes, Charles Halloway is finally able to overcome his regret through love, laughter and balance. I think this ethic of love comes from his family and his dear wife.

Our prayers and thoughts go out to him and his family.

Thanks again for posting the information. I am also very much looking forward to your book.

Saw this post of truly sad news by Sam.
My wife and I had the priviledge of meeting Ray with Maggie earlier this year at the opening night of one of Ray's plays. She was very gracious and very fun loving. I am sure that she had a tremendous positive influence on the younger Ray. I am saddened to the core to learn of this and can only hope Ray is able to bear up under the stress of loosing his beloved Maggie.

BAD OMEN? I had these two plants called Marguerite daisies. Not only very pretty, but I also liked them because they reminded me of Marguerite Bradbury and the many variations of her name (Margaret, Margot, Peggy) that Ray has used in his stories over the years. Also, Marguerite is French for Margaret, and my middle name is Margaret, so... I was going to plant them outside, had them out all fall and they were doing fine when a nursery man told me they wouldn't winter through, so brought them in. One continued to thrive, but one dwindled. About the time Mrs. Bradbury died, I found the smaller Marguerite daisy seemed to be dead. (Though, hope springing eternal as it does, thought I'd keep it around till it was time to put the other out...just in case.) Coincidence, or bad omen? Know what else? Since I never identified myself by name on the phone, she didn't even know she was talking to me...darn...but conversed with me as with an old friend!

If anyone here has access to the L. A. Times, can you please post the obituary, or at least the part instructing where to send flowers? Thanks!

I checked the LA Times website under Obituaries and there has been no mention of Maggie passing to date.

Marguerite Susan Bradbury was buried today at Westwood Memorial Park. 50 family and friends of the Bradbury's were there.

This is the poem, that's in the memory card

PEG'O MY HEART, I LOVE YOU
WE'LL NEVER PART, I LOVE YOU
DEAR LITTLE GIRL, SWEET LITTLE GIRL
SWEETER THAN THE ROSE OF ERIN
IT'S THE SHAMROCK WE'LL BE SHARING

PEG O' MY HEART, YOUR LAUGHTER
YOUR IRISH HEAR, I'M AFTER
COME BE MY OWN
COME MAKE YOUR HOME
IN MY HEART


Maggie was born January 16, 1922 in LA
Passed Away November 24, 2003 in LA

Take care
Patrick

I typically don't get too emotional on message boards, but that poem in that situation brings me near to tears.

My deepest sympathies to the Bradbury family

Sam: Thanks so much for your loving words. I don't know what we'd do without you, but I do know that you made things so much easier with your presence. Please know that Mom loved you with all her heart and soul.

Zee

Zee, I only "met" your mom the one time (over the phone) but we hit it off well and am sure would have gotten along great. Please send our love to all of the family!

Patrick: Thanks for putting Mom's memorial in here. "Peg o my heart" was a song that Dad used to sing to her in their "courting" days.

A big thank you to all of you for your love and concern.

There were four people at the beautiful service yesterday who have, in one way or another, changed Ray's life totally and unequivocally and allowed him to keep moving on with his great work and indeftigable spirit. It was an honor to be with them:

Forrest J. Ackerman

Funded Ray's first 'zine "Futuria Fantasia," and gave him the money to head to New York in 1939 for the first World's Science Fiction Convention. 4E was instrumental in getting Ray on the launch pad.

Norman Corwin

Presuaded Ray in 1949 that, indeed, he had the goods and should head to New York where, over one dinner, Ray sold "the Illustarted Man" and "The Martian Chronicles." Lift-off from the launch pad had been achieved. Big time.

Alexandra Bradbury

Since 1988 and the "Toynbee Convector" baby Bradbury has been the silent force behind all of Ray's work -- typist, first editor, take nothing from no one all around Glinda the good witch of the North. Aunt Neva would be proud. Zee, since this has turned into a cyber love-fest, I Love You too. You are a bundle of wonder and energy and the proof that genetics are a potent force to reckon with.

Patrick Kachurka

Ray's personal assitant. In November of 1999, when Ray had suffered a stroke, Patrick high-tailed it out to the desert travelling at very illegal speeds to convince Ray he had to get to the hospital. No question...Patrick saved Ray's life that day and Ray acknowledges this often. Patrick also broke the land-speed record from LA to Palm Springs proving once and for all he has a future career in the race car world.

All of these great people gathered to honor the one person who changed and altered Ray Bradbury's life most of all -- Marguerite "Maggie" Susan McClure. Yesterday, the California sun poured down in wide shafts of golden exhaltation.

She will be missed. She will be missed.

WE LOVE YOU MAGGIE.





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