Ray, no one can emulate your blend of magic and science, of faraway worlds and earthy midwestern life. But many readers have grown to love books and many writers have found inspiration in the way you tie fantastic ideas together with your beautifully crafted language.

We discussed some of your works in an Irish writer's club tonight. I'm told "All Summer in a Day" was often played as a short before cinema films here in this rainy country and I suspect in 7 years when the next total solar eclipse passes through the U.S., some schoolchildren will be prevented from seeing this amazing spectacle, out of fear and ignorance. When a childhood friend recently died, much too young to be finished with her sand castle, I couldn't help but think of "The Lake."

Thank you!