If you have not come across the wonderful work of John Collier, I would highly recommend that you take a look at some of his books. "Fancies and Goodnights" is availabel in a reprint and is highly enjoyable. I bleive that Mr. Bradbury has read Collier. Another Collier book that is great is "His Monkey Wife". Collier was british but spent most of his life in the US. He predates Bradbury, but his style is similar and the topics of fantasy were precursers to those of the master himself.

Don't know whether Bradbury has publicly credited Collier, but he did when we spoke.

Anyone wanting a quick look at a list of John Collier's writing, can click on:
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/uthrc/00025/00025.html

[This message has been edited by Nard Kordell (edited 01-27-2003).]

Just got done watching Collier's Wet Saturday, the first episode of the second series of Alfred Hitchcock Presents from 1956, directed by AH himself. Jolly good.

You made me go and look at my Collier books: I own a limited signed edition of Green Thoughts, which was the original story for what became The Little Shop of Horrors, and a book of his short stories that has no publication info, no title page, just Six Stories. I loved his work as much as I love Ray's stories, and the genesis is definitely there in Collier, as Ray stated when he paid tribute to Collier in a late edition of Fancies and Good-nights.

There is a story I believe by Collier about how money corrupts a village when a stranger enters and offers to rent a home with a check. It is the most marvelous exploration of how credit corrupts the economy, and is very appropos to our time of trial.

In John Collier's "Fancies and Goodnights" (2003) printing, Mr. Bradbury wrote an introduction to the book. Included in other great quotes, he wrote: "I can name no other writer whose work has given me such constant pleasure."

Good stuff.
"His Monkey Wife" is, uh, interesting.

Probably this has been noted before, but I came across this myself for the first time. And here I make note of it (perhaps noted for the second time here)...

kindly click on:
http://www.video.google.com/vi...=-987373724211786057

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Just me, the typewriter, and the future - wonderful!

Inspiring again!

quote:

Originally posted by Doug Spaulding:
Just got done watching Collier's Wet Saturday, the first episode of the second series of Alfred Hitchcock Presents from 1956, directed by AH himself. Jolly good.

And just now, watched De Mortuis, another episode of AHP, and another written by Collier. It features a small part by a Mr Haim Wynant (in his first television appearance), who would, a few years later, star in what George Clayton Johnson once told me was his favourite episode of The Twilight Zone, Charles Beaumont's The Howling Man.

More recently, Mr Wynant would star in Ray's Leviathan 99 on stage with Bill Shatner.

Connections? I see a few.

John Collier ranks amongst Ray's favorite authors.

quote:

Originally posted by Doug Spaulding:
More recently, Mr Wynant would star in Ray's Leviathan 99 on stage with Bill Shatner.

Connections? I see a few.

A few more: Last night's TZ was Nick of Time, starring Bill Shatner. It was written by Richard Matheson, who screen-wrote The Martian Chronicles in 1980.

Another TZ episode featuring Bill, Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, was also written by Mr Matheson.

In the TZ film from 1983 (featuring George Clayton Johnson's Kick the Can, which he once referred to as "pure Dandelion Wine"), Nightmare was remade. John Landis also directed a segment. A year ago, when I mentioned to Ray that I had been with Mr Landis at his home, Ray asked me to "tell him to call me!". I did.

Isn't it a small world? Either that, or large is the orbit around Mr Ray Bradbury!

You know John Landis? He directed the Michael Jackson "Black or White" video.

I do know John. Last year he (and 4E) both told me the story of the Thriller shoot and the Shlock shoot.