I came across a paperback book in the library of Herbert Hoover Elementary school in 1966. I always enjoyed science-fiction stories and movies and of course, grew up in the "Space Age" of the late fifties and early sixties. My oldest brother had just been drafted and classified fit for military service in Viet Nam, with wires in his broken back! What a country! I was unaware at that time my older brother too had been drafted. The oldest "escaped" by hitchhiking to San Fransisco and settling on Haight St.(nuff said) My older brother served as an MP attached to the CID and CIA. This fueled many heated discussions at the dinner table and often I would escape reality by reading your books, first 451 followed by Chronicles and Illustrated Man. Most young people are rightly influenced by their parents as was I, with a twist. I couldn't help but wonder about alternate realities, time warps and future generations as I grew and pondered the meaning of life. We enjoyed a middle-class income with the privelage of the constant watch of the FBI thanks to my oldest brothers involvement with the SDS and the olders' secret work in "non-combatant" zones of southeast Asia. Therefore I grew up with added insecurities of not knowing who's side we were all on! I questioned everything and everybody, not trusting those in power or those to come. My uncle was a fireman, and I wondered when his job desription would change. It would have to be subtle. Fast forward my life to the recent past. Like you, I suffered a massive stroke in '03 but recovered well with only a slight limp and slurred speech when I tire. Sadly, I too lost my loving wife and best friend last year. But on to your influence. The way I think was molded by your writings. I have always looked beyond the obvious, not out of some profound gift or talent, but out of training, reading and imagining things you pondered and provoked in me. This led to some tough times with the rest of my family, bent on conformaty and the status quo. Especially when, at 20 years of age, I changed my religion. Nothing earth-shattering to most of the world, but in a small southern Illinois town in the 70's disturbing non-the-less. Thirty-four years later I have absolutely no regrets. My sixth grade teacher, Mr Kopel, I think would be happy with my choices. He always said; "I'm not here to teach you to regurgitate facts, but rather to learn how to teach yourselves." Thank you Mr. Kopel, and thank you Mr. Bradbury!
Posts: 1 | Location: Jonesboro, AR | Registered: 22 June 2010
