Ray Bradbury Forums
Out of Waukegan, Illinois

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11 February 2005, 08:53 AM
MixedSignals46
Out of Waukegan, Illinois
I grew up in the same city and neighborhood as Mr. Bradbury, and feel the need to write also. I have lived in, and walked through, the very sites where Mr. Bradbury based many of his stories settings. I feel a very strong and undeniable urge to write about these places. I'm currently working on a novel about growing up in Greentown (Waukegan), and the adventures shared between two boys there. Mr. Bradbury has inspired me greatly, but the need to write seems to flow from somewhere within the realm of imagination and the natural landscape of both Mr. Bradbury's and my own hometown. Many of his stories are like pages from my own life, complete with location. It's as if he has watched me grow up sometimes. My stories pick up where his leave off. The lonely one still stalks the darkened hillsides of "Electric Park" in my writing, except the universe I write of is my own. The names are changed also. I feel since I hail from the same places Mr. Bradbury walked, touched, and breathed,growing up, I have a right to write about them too. I forever feel his presence here and can't help but feel the need to further extract stories from this fertile soil known as Waukegan. MixedSignals46