Mr. Bradbury had a very profound effect on my life. I'm an artist/filmmaker/composer and have been a Bradbury fan since I was in grade school - decades and decades ago. I had the chance to meet him at a book signing in San Francisco. I had no idea what to say to him that he probably didn't hear hundreds of times each day from fans and fanatics. The only thing we had in common was that neither of us had ever learned to drive a car. So, that's what I told him. He smiled that happy "Ray smile" and said "Good for you!" He then told me of how, when he was young, cars were dangerous death traps and that many of the people he'd grown up with never grew up to be adults. He was very serious and wistful telling me how those childhood friends would never know what he'd done with his life. He told me I'd done a smart thing by never learning to drive - and asked me to never learn to. He was quite serious and had me shake his hand on it. Now, years later, whenever I'm asked how a grown man can still not know how to drive a car, I tell them Ray Bradbury made me promise to never learn how. That pretty much ends the discussion. I mean, if Ray Bradbury makes you promise to never do something, you must never, ever, do it!
Posts: 2 | Location: Vermont | Registered: 01 January 2017
