I first read Bradbury in 1972, when I was 12. Three years earlier I had watched men land on the moon, live on TV, and I still have photos of the "Live Simulation" snapped from our B&W television.

I had a mad passion as a boy for anything to do with space missions, and I wrote often to NASA and the astronaut corps, with rewarding result. I also followed some of the other masters of the genre, including Isaac Asimov, who spoke at my college commencement in 1984.

But Bradbury was my favorite, for clarity and simplicity and sheer inspiration that mankind would ultimately go to strange places with sometimes unexpected results.

I studied scientific things in college, and have worked as a chemist in industry for 23 years. Now I've decided, once again, that I'd rather teach school. But this time I really mean it. I recently certified to teach General Science at the Middle School level in Massachusetts, and I'm hoping to soon leave the rat race behind to perform a higher function.

I hope that before my life is over I can look back and know that one young mind was inspired to know the fun, the magic and the wonder of science. That's what Ray Bradbury did for me.

I grieve for Mr. Bradbury's recent loss. Behind every great man... Well, Ray has been blessed for many years, and left an enormous legacy of which he
his beloved Marguerite can be proud.

God bless you, Ray Bradbury.

Geoff from Otis Mass

I can tell you will be a great science teacher, Geoff. You have the enthusiasm and the wonder. Best wishes for a long and successful teaching career.

For me it was 1969 at about 13. I was encouraged to read F451 by a friend and loved it. Besides the great language and imagery, what got me turned on was the idea/realization that ideas mattered. Bradbury turned me on to the world of ideas. I read the rest of the available Bradbury canon. Then went on to other scifi. This literature turned me on to other "real" literature, and to philosophy and religion. I loved the way fantasy and science fiction had the capability of dealing with the relationship between man and ideas. This whole love began with F451.

I hope you can pursue the teaching avenue and that you can enjoy impacting other lives. I teach at the community college level and, although it is a ton of work (grading, lecture prep, etc) it is very rewarding. I get to see at least a couple kids/young people each semester get turned on to ideas.

Good luck!

Yes, Mr. Dark. SF can go places no other genre can and it can also take all those other genres with it. A SF story can at the same time be an espionage thriller, a rollicking shoot'em up western, a sea faring swashbuckler, a horror story, a mystery, a courtroom or detective drama, a love story or war story. It can mimic Steinbeck, Melville, Twain or Hemingway and somehow enlighten you in a way that only SF can. While reading Olaf Stapledon's "Last And First Men" I was asking myself questions I'd never pondered, and I ponder alot. Stranger In A Strange Land and F-451 stimulated my thought process as only "That Fellow From Walden" had previously. Despite Cambell's and Asimov's views of what SF should be, it is infact without boundaries.

[This message has been edited by grasstains (edited 12-31-2003).]

Grasstains:

I absolutely agree with your post on this. SciFi is the literature of our day (not an original idea with me!). I'm always disappointed when I look through English course listings at college and don't see a course devoted to scifi/fantasy. This genre is not second-rate literature -- it is idea-based literature.

Bradbury, and then the broader scope of scifi/fantasy writing opened worlds of thought to me that simply would not have been opened to me with more limited types of writing.

One of the writers Bradbury loved was Nathaniel Hawthorne -- who called his stories "tales" because he didn't want to be limited by literary realism in his ideas. Interestingly, Bradbury's new anthology is subtitled, "100 of Bradbury's Most Celebrated Tales". Poe, another of Bradbury's favorite authors, also referred to his stories as tales.

I also loved Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land" and a lot of his other writings, and loved Harlin Ellison, also. Robert Silverberg has amazed me sometimes, too.

Well, I did it. Two weeks ago I started teaching at a "psycho-educational treatment center" for boys with some pretty severe developmental disabilities - and some with terrible histories of abuse.

Today, my Tourette's Syndrome kid took great pride in his mastery of geometric concepts. Seems he has a keen ability to visualize in three dimensions.

Tomorrow, one of my kids, who has some native American blood (Micmac tribe) will gain a fuller appreciation of the significance of pi, diameter and circumference when we figure out how to design a wigwam 15 feet across, with a domed roof.

Maybe we'll build a wigwam in the summer, which we can use as a base for our planned astronomy club, and the Micmac boy (who enjoys science fiction) might be ready then for The Martian Chronicles.

I'll be thinking of Ray Bradbury, who really was a big inspiration for my career change.

Congratulations on your new job, Gringo. It sounds very challenging, but I can tell you're up for it. Maybe you can try some of Ray's short stories if they aren't quite ready yet for a novel. "All Summer in a Day," "Dark They Were and Golden-Eyed," "The Veldt," and many others might be great for your students. I have taught them all with sixth and seventh grade students and found them to stimulate excellent discussions. Best wishes in your new endeavor!!

I am only 15 years old, and I know now what I want to do for the rest of my life. My father, Gary Webb, is a writer. He worked on the San Jose Mercury News and later wrote a book called Dark Alliance. Growing up as a child, I could never understand why someone would want to sit in a room and write a book for a whole year. Later this denial of attention twoards us children, and our mother lead to our divorce. But when his book was published, it made such an impact on the world that I saw why it had to be written. Most people haven't read or heard of this book, so I am sure you have no idea what I am talking about.
The point off all of this is, that I just finished reading "Zen in the Art of Writing." I know see why my father loved to write, and I can see why all authors love to write. It is an addiction, not a bad one either. The passion that Bradbury used in writing this book is very powerful, and also showed me that just in liking to write, you can have a future in it.
After the divorce, I didn't speak to my father for 2 years. Before reading this book, we discussed our issues, but still, being young, I didn't understand why he chose the computer over us for a whole year. But this book has opened up my eyes to writing, and not only showed me why, but how. Showed me how I can prepare to write, whether or not I will succeed in it is not important. I will write because I love it, and no one will tell me otherwise, not friends, not family. This is a great book and it helped me to understand my father's past, and my future.
So, "Zen in the Art of Writing" was the Bradbury effect on me.
-Eric Webb

[This message has been edited by Hasek39 (edited 01-26-2004).]

Mr. Dark:

You will be pleased to know that my college, the University of Akron, in Akron, Ohio, offers a variety of "nonstandard" elective courses, taught by the English department. These classes are presented at the senior/graduate level, and include Fantasy, Science Fiction, Stephen King, and Gothic Horror. I'd give a more complete listing if I could find my course catalog...

I am VERY lucky to be a student of this forward-thinking group of professors!

Hasek39--I read up a bit on "Dark Alliance." It sounds like the type of story that would just get a relentless grip on someone and not let go until they had it all researched and out on paper, which, from what you said, is exactly what happened to your father. It's unfortunate that your family got caught up in the maelstrom, but it sounds like you are coming to grips with it and moving on, as hard as that is to do. In fact, you sound like a remarkably "together" person for someone so young. I haven't read Zen yet, but every post here I've ever read seconds what you have said, so I hope to read it myself very soon. Maybe I'll get inspired as you have....

[This message has been edited by lmskipper (edited 01-26-2004).]