Ok fjp451, that should go in. Anything else? Dandelion, what was that Christmas piece you mentioned?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: skmckee,

To my knowledge, Ray wrote and published a Christmas greeting poem every year for many years. They were printed and sent to friends, fans, etc.

Do you mean the Christmas recollection from a 1980s woman's magazine? Ray's recollection of Christmas when he was 12-14 years old.

Ray owned summer!

Yes, I was thinking of the women's mag one. I'm being lazy, but can you tell me more about it? I'm also very interested in "Merry Christmas 2116". Apparently, it did well in Edinburgh: http://www.gallimaufry.org/nowshowing_bradbury.html

Is it just me, or with all this material--plus the poems you mentioned (provided some of them could be obtained) is not a Bradbury Christmas book worth contemplating? Imagine the art work that could be included--the Esquire one for "The Gift" comes to mind. Perhaps Mugnaini did some Christmas/winter pieces.... Agreed, Ray owned summer. Also autumn.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: skmckee,

Perusing the contents of the above link, I discover that Ray wrote a Christmas carol(!) called "Christmas Comes." The book thickens...

quote:

Originally posted by skmckee:
Yes, I was thinking of the women's mag one. I'm being lazy, but can you tell me more about it?

Check your email and if it is not there then PM me your current email address.

Thank you Dandelion! I just read it. Short, but sweet. Into the book it goes!

Yes, let's make this book happen!

It feels somehow inevitable. One would have to tread very carefully, with Ray no longer available to give the nod of approval and contribute a foreword. Still, I feel the thing could be done tastefully and with respect. Perhaps a small boutique run, with proceeds to Ray's favourite charity.

I'm still playing with it as a thought experiment. I confess, I don't know how to take it further than that.

Well, Phil knows all Ray's major and small press publishers.

Should the collection include works and excerpts mentioning Christmas? Ray did write about Christmas gifts in connection with Aunt Neva, and mentioned the holiday in A Graveyard for Lunatics.

I would think any piece that could work as a vignette should be included. If a photo or piece of artwork goes along with it--e.g. a photo of Aunt Neva's gift(s)--all the better. I'd love to see what kind of stuff Ray put under the Christmas tree...

"Graveyard" is one of Ray's books that I read via the library. I don't recall the passage; I'll have to check it out again. (Literally.)

You should put this together into a clear proposal (giving details of where the previously-published items can be found) and send it to Gauntlet Press or Subterranean Press. It might be the kind of thing they would go for.

HarperCollins (Ray's main publisher) might be interested, but I doubt that they would even listen to a suggestion from an "average person", or that you could ever get the idea through to the right person in that organisation.

If you wanted to produce the book yourself, you would have to negotiate with Bradbury's agent (Don Congdon Associates) for the rights to each piece - and then you'd need to arrange for printing and distribution to stand any hope of making back the money you spent on licensing the stories.

Thanks Phil! Your first idea seems the most doable. I do love the idea of putting the book together myself, though.... What about doing a mock-up and submitting that as a proposal? I know that publishing houses do their own design work, but it would be great fun and very satisfying to have some input.

Any thoughts about the possible existence of unpublished Christmas-themed material?

On a different note, I much enjoyed your "A Sound of Thunder" podcast interview.

Yes, by all means assemble all you can find and perhaps those of us with things such as the poems Ray sent out as greetings every year could contribute copies, then a group of us could sign a proposal showing that a number of people love this great idea!

skmckee,

I think you have it covered in this thread - I'm not aware of any Christmas material other than what's been listed here.

To be honest, I don't think any publisher will be impressed by a home-made mock-up of the imagined book. Better to provide a clear, well-researched and well-referenced suggested table of contents.

Thanks for your kind words on the SOUND OF THUNDER PODCAST!