Hello, all. I believe there was a spot on this board for making introductions, but I had trouble locating it a second time...so I'm posting here.

I was born in 1970 right on the tail of man's first footprints on the moon, and that point in history occupied my earliest memories. Of course, Mars would be the arena for the next logical footprint I expected us to leave, so when The Martian Chronicles series aired a few years later I was glued to the screen. Despite the "just boring" nature of the show, I was fascinated by this fantasy depiction of Mars: my brother and I used to grab old umbrellas and run around zapping each other while claiming to be the last Martian. I was also a voracious reader, so this led to me seeking out Ray's novel for a whole other level of enjoyment. And then I was hooked on Bradbury - and other stories, collections and novels followed. In fact, I tried to read every single book that Ray had published at the time, and I came pretty close. He had without a doubt become my favorite writer.

By the mid-1980s, I had lost touch a bit with Ray's current work, although I was aware he was still writing and would take notice when he had a new book out. In the meantime, I was still seeking out filmed adaptations of his work up through the 90s, eventually finding VHS tapes of The Illustrated Man, Something Wicked This Way Comes, The Martian Chronicles, The Ray Bradbury Theater, etc. (and being extremely disappointed that the latter only had a handful of episodes available).

In more recent years, my respect and love for Ray's work has only grown. In 2011 I was delighted to finally get my hands on the entire Ray Bradbury Theater series on DVD...and I watched the whole thing in a relatively short time. While watching this, I was struck with this sad feeling that Ray might not be with us much longer. And sure enough, shortly after, Ray passed on. I felt a bit hollow after his passing, and wished that I had found a way to meet the man just once, due to his profound effect on my imagination.

Back when I read The Martian Chronicles, I noticed there were other Mars stories scattered throughout other collections of Ray's work. I remember reading "The Blue Bottle", and thinking how much I'd love to have ALL the Mars stories collected in one book. And then of course in 2009 a book came out doing just that and then some...with a number of unpublished Mars stories included as well. Unpublished stories! It was my young self's dream come true, but unfortunately I didn't find out about the publication until it was long gone...sold out. It was not cheap to begin with, and was now even more expensive on the secondary market - if one was lucky enough even to find it for sale. I knew I had to have it even with the high price tag. Finally, just recently, I was able to find one to make my own...and it is now my most treasured book.

Another dream of mine from childhood was to read every single Ray Bradbury short story, hopefully in chronological order...a dream that seemed likely impossible back then. But recently I found out about the publication of Ray's collected stories in a proposed 8 volume set! Volume 1 has been acquired, with Volume 2 soon to follow, and I am filled with a sense of satisfaction. My young self from long ago is giving me the thumbs up, right now.

And so here I am, pleased to be able to interact with others who likely have shared some of these very same dreams (and some who even helped them come true for me!). Pleased to meet you.

--SKot

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Originally posted by SKotK:
Location: Portland, OR, USA
--SKot

Hey, that's where I live!

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Originally posted by Doug Spaulding:

quote:

Originally posted by SKotK:
Location: Portland, OR, USA
--SKot

Hey, that's where I live!

With Powell's Books on one side of the river and Movie Madness on the other (among other things), it's a great place to be!

--SKot