The fine writer Peter Straub, perhaps best known for his best-selling novel GHOST STORY, died on September 6, 2022 at the age of 79. He also wrote such thrillers as BLUE ROSE, KOKO and THE THROAT. For more information about his career and passing, click on the link below:

https://locusmag.com/2022/09/peter-straub-1943-2022/

I was saddened to learn that Robert Madle, Ray Bradbury friend and great science fiction fan, passed away on October 8, 2022 at the age of 102. Bob Madle had been active in science fiction fandom since the 1930's, and was also a renowned book dealer of science fiction, fantasy and horror. (I purchased many books from Mr. Madle over the years, including a first edition of THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES, as well as my copy of Ray's screenplay for AND THE ROCK CRIED OUT.) For more information about Robert Madle's life and passing, click on the link below:

https://locusmag.com/2022/10/r...t-a-madle-1920-2022/

And Robert Madle, along with Ray Bradbury, were two of the attendees at the first World Science Fiction Convention, held in New York City in 1939. While I have posted the following picture on this Board before, it is one of my very favorites and I am glad to post it again for any newcomers. During the first World Science Fiction Convention in 1939, several attendees took a side trip out to Coney Island to have some fun. The photo was taken on July 4, 1939. 19-year-old Mr. Madle is in the top row, second from the left. And at the right end of the top row, looking very tan, is 18-year-old Ray Bradbury:

https://fanac.org/photohtm.php?worldcon/NYcon/w39-050

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Some truly sad news. Author Greg Bear died yesterday at the much-too-young age of 71, after complications from heart surgery. Ray Bradbury was a long-time friend and mentor of Mr. Bear, who as a young man regularly attended Ray's lectures. And Mr. Bear dedicated his fine novel, MOVING MARS, to Ray. Both Ray and Greg Bear attended the 65th anniversary screening of KING KONG in Omaha, Nebraska in 1998, and I had the chance at that event to observe that affection and friendship the two had for each other. For Mr. Bear's own thoughts about his long friendship with Ray, check out his contributions to the books NOLAN ON BRADBURY, and the recently published HOME TO STAY! THE COMPLETE RAY BRADBURY EC STORIES. For more about Mr. Bear's life and work, click on the link below:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Bear

And for a photo of Greg Bear with Ray Bradbury, and well as a painting Mr. Bear did in Ray's honor, click on the following link to Mr. Bear's own website:

https://www.gregbear.com/pages/bradbury.php

Finally, to see Greg Bear, along with Ray Bradbury, Forrest J Ackerman and Ray Harryhausen, at that 1998 screening of KING KONG in Omaha, click on the link below and scroll to the very bottom:

http://www.omahafilmevent.com/past/kong.htm

Someone needs to mention Lance Kerwin, one of my favorite child actors. He didn't appear in anything by Bradbury but was in Salem's Lot by Stephen King.

Raquel Welch also passed away. Can't think of a Bradbury connection but she was in at least one film with dinosaurs and the science fiction epic The Fantastic Voyage.

"If cavewomen looked like Raquel Welch back in the day, then we've regressed."

- Ray Harryhausen, Ray Bradbury best friend and creator of the special effects in ONE MILLION YEARS B.C., in which Raquel Welch starred. Rest in peace, Ms. Welch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSYmJur0Npw&t=52s

This post is to acknowledge the passing on March 8, 2023, at the age of 100, of science fiction and horror movie director Bert I. Gordon. Mr. Gordon was nicknamed "Mr. BIG" by Forrest J Ackerman, a reference not only to the initials of his name, but also to all of the movies he made that featured giant creatures. While his films were low budget and by no means great, they were fun and I saw a number of them as a youngster. My personal favorite is THE MAGIC SWORD (1962), starring Basil Rathbone, Estelle Winwood and Vampira (!). For more information on Mr. Gordon's career, click on the link below:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_I._Gordon

Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr., great musical artist (11/17/38-5/1/23)
~ Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music. He is credited with helping to define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s, and was performing right up until recent years.
Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, Early Morning Rain, If You Could Read My Mind, Race Among the Ruins, Sundown, Carefree Highway, Rainy Day People, Second Cup of Coffee, and so many more poetic songs!!

Like Mr. Bradbury, he captured the essence of the people-times-loves-dreams-landscapes-losses-joys-tears that he experienced and shared.
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald is a powerful work which narrates the tragic sinking of the ocean freighter while the crew was navigating the Great Lakes in turbulent weather of November of 1975.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Edmund_Fitzgerald

PEACE!

Please Enjoy some of Mr. Lightfoot's musical poetry here:

https://www.google.com/search?...LnuCqTR39aIJtw%3D%3D

Let's all pause to remember the anniversary of Ray's leave-taking.

It's hard to believe that Ray Bradbury has been gone for 11 years today. He remains a creative force in all the arts, and will truly live forever as long as people all over the world love and read fine literature.

We remember you, Ray. We remember you.

I have been invited to offer a few lessons at my long time teaching grounds as the school year winds down. A request for some memorable short stories with follow-ups from Ray Bradbury Theater episodes are on the agenda.

Thank you "Forever!", Mr. Bradbury!

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Cormac McCarthy has died at age 89. For more information on his life and passing, click on the link below. On a personal note, while I admired Mr. McCarthy's writing very much, his books were too bleak and violent, at least for me.

https://www.usatoday.com/story...r-winner/5663448002/

Actor Treat Williams died in a motorcycle accident on June 12.

Academy-Award winning actor Alan Arkin has died at age 89. For more information on his life and career, click on the link below:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Arkin

And as I noted in a 2020 posting wishing Mr. Arkin a happy 86th birthday, a little know fact is that, early in his career, he was a science fiction writer! As I wrote in that earlier posting, Mr. Arkin wrote "Whiskaboom", which appeared in the August, 1955 issue of GALAXY, and "People Soup", which appeared in the November, 1958 issue of that same magazine. The latter story was reprinted in a 1980 hardcover anthology, GALAXY: THIRTY YEARS OF INNOVATIVE SCIENCE FICTION. In his introduction to "People Soup" which appeared in that anthology, Mr. Arkin wrote: "The events in the story are probably fictional, but I won't swear to it."

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Tony Bennett, one of the greatest American singers, has died at the age of 96, two weeks shy of his 97th birthday. When asked by ABC News' David Muir a few years back for the secret of his longevity, he replied, "I've never worked a day in my life. I love what I do." If that sounds familiar...Ray Bradbury used to say the same thing about writing.

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-66271090