R. L. Stine, the author of the Goosebumps books, was inspired by Ray.

Here's a quote from an interview with Stine:

" I grew up in Columbus, Ohio, and one day my mother dropped me off at the little library on Main Street. The librarian was waiting for me, and she knew I liked comic books. She said: "I have something else I think you will like," and she took me to a shelf of Ray Bradbury stories. They were so great: beautifully written and magical and all of them had great twist endings. That was what really turned me into a reader.

[Interviewer] Bradbury was huge for me, too, when I was young. "The Veldt" is one of my favorite short stories — also, "The Small Assassin."

Oh yeah. I liked his non-science fiction stuff, too, like Dandelion Wine. That book is poetry — just beautiful."

You can read the interview here:
https://www.yahoo.com/entertai...books-155607028.html

And my junior high school librarian is the one who recommended Ray Bradbury to me, and got me hooked on his writing. Let's face it: most librarians are cool and smart!

I also discovered Ray Bradbury for myself in junior high school.

Ah!! Those always quiet yet powerful Libraries....!

I first read RB as a ninth grader at a Parochial HS. However, that first book was also not as an assigned classroom reading. Ironically, I was a young teen sitting in a study hall with nothing to do. Imagine!?

The Good Sister informed me I was to, "Immediately get to the library and return promptly with something to read...Or Else!" (Back then, we never questioned what the "Or Else!" might involve!)

So, upon my eventual arrival, I found myself surrounded by several rotating racks of paperbacks. Seeking to avoid the "Or Else!", I spun the nearest rack holding its collection of books. I had no title, author, or topic in mind!

When the rack stopped spinning, a copy of this Ray Bradbury edition completely captured my attention:
https://pictures.abebooks.com/...tory/11654814112.jpg

I walked out with the copy of The Golden Apples of the Sun, totally intrigued by its brown cover, the eerie skull, the roaming dinosaur, and a volcano erupting on a strange planet's surface. I returned to my seat with purpose and began to read.

Mr. Bradbury signed a copy of this edition of Golden Apples of the Sun when our family met him so many years later! Thank you, Mr. Bradbury!

As noted by douglasSP in his first posting above, writer R.L Stine was inspired by Ray Bradbury. As in the case of Mr. Stine, a wise school librarian introduced me to Ray's work as a bored seventh grader looking for something to read. That librarian handed me a copy of THE GOLDEN APPLES OF THE SUN and said, "Why don't you take this book out? I think you'll like it." Talk about an understatement!

In his post, douglasSP provided a link to an article in which Mr. Stine discusses his love of Ray. And to view a video of Mr. Stine discussing how he discovered Ray and how that discovery changed his life, click on the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUkPoBXINY8