...in which he describes vividly our ancestors around a fire, holding back the fear, telling and listening to stories. I can't find it in Zen but it may be there. It may also have been an introduction to a book of stories. I would be deeply grateful for any help with this. It's been more than 30 years since I read it, but I'd love to read it again.

Thank you,

BG

Hi BG, and welcome.

I just scanned through Zen and found what I think you are referring to: an essay called DUSK IN THE ROBOT MUSEUMS: THE REBIRTH OF IMAGINATION (p99 of my edition; your mileage may vary). It includes the following passage:

Pondering those problems and possible sciences, the first cavemen and women drew science-fiction dreams on the cave walls. Scribbles in soot blueprinting possible strategies. Illustrations of mammoths, tigers, fires: how to solve? How to turn science-fiction (problem solving) into science-fact (problem solved).

Some few brave ones ran out of the cave to be stomped by the mammoth, toothed by the tiger, scorched by the bestial fire that lived on trees and devoured wood. Some few finally returned to draw on the walls the triumph of the mammoth knocked like a hairy cathedral to earth, the tiger toothless, and the fire tamed
and brought within the cave to light their nightmares and warm their souls.

Thank you, Phil, for an amazingly fast response. I'd seen that one and I wish that it were the right one, but it's not. The passage I remember as our ancestors huddling around the fire. I'm sure that it came from much the same place in Ray Bradbury's mind, but he must have used elsewhere. When I saw it, it has been reprinted in a rhetoric textbook, the title of which is long forgotten. Come to think of it though, that does offer another line of research. Again, many thanks. I'm so glad to have found this wonderful resource.

If I think of any other candidate essays that match your description, I'll be sure to let you know! Bradbury, as you are probably aware, liberally re-uses his ideas, so sometimes it can be really difficult to get to a definitive source.

While you're on the board, BG, how about hopping over to the "Where Are Y'all From?" thread, and telling us where y'all are from?

"Frost and Fire"?

quote:

Originally posted by Braling II:
"Frost and Fire"?

That's the first image which came into my mind, as well.

quote:

Originally posted by philnic:
While you're on the board, BG, how about hopping over to the "Where Are Y'all From?" thread, and telling us where y'all are from?

I didn't know y'all Englishters said "y'all"!

Having both lived through the 60s and being in my 60s I trust I can be forgiven if my memory of this essay comes back in bits and pieces. I just recalled that the essay was included in a rhetoric text entitled "Rhetoric: Discovery and Change." The text was edited by Young, Becker and Pike. I found a copy on Amazon, and once I've received it I will post the solution to this mystery. Many thanks to everyone for your great response. I hope that I can be equally useful when the time comes. And since I live in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, I will be perfectly at home responding to the "Where Are Y'all From?"

quote:

Originally posted by Doug Spaulding:
...I didn't know y'all Englishters said "y'all"!

Only when referring to a thread with said name!

quote:

Originally posted by bglassman:
...once I've received it I will post the solution to this mystery...

I look forward to seeing your post!

quote:

Originally posted by philnic:

quote:

Originally posted by Doug Spaulding:
...I didn't know y'all Englishters said "y'all"!

Only when referring to a thread with said name!

Not so fast, y'all. Sorry to go off-topic so soon, but you may want to take a look at this:

quote:

Linguist Michael Montgomery claims that "y'all" goes back to the Scots-Irish phrase "ye aw," and he offers as evidence a letter written in 1737 by an Irish immigrant in New York to a friend back home: "Now I beg of ye aw to come over here." As I understand Montgomery's hypothesis, "ye aw" was Americanized into "y'all," which is indeed a contraction of "you all" but would not have come into being without the influence of the Scots-Irish phrase.

From: http://anotherhistoryblog.blog...-now-about-yall.html

quote:

Originally posted by bglassman:
And since I live in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, I will be perfectly at home responding to the "Where Are Y'all From?"

The Andy Griffith Show is my favorite show of all time! Y'all.