What is your favorite Bradbury "Non-Story"? That is, which interview, speech, personal conversation, or anything that wasn't an actual story or poem, do you most remember and cherish from Bradbury?

Having recently acquired Conversations with Ray Bradbury, I'm interested to hear everyone's favorites. As I finish the book, I'll chip in my two cents when I am able to do so.

If you can remember a specific place to read the interview/speech, please provide a reference. If an online link is available (and legally kosher, of course) please provide a web address.

The interview Ray Bradbury gave for SHOW Magazine (A Huntington Hartford publication) back in the mid 1960's. The interview was subtitled,' A Portrait of a Genius'

This particular SHOW Magazine issue is actually on eBay for the next 2 days and some 20 hours after the time denoted on this posting. Check it out: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=280&item=4525626722&rd=1 &ssPageName=WDVW

I love his Mr. Electrico story!

Good question. If anyone posts a reply, it would be nice to know why you liked it best and what you thought it meant/involved.

I like the Mr. Electrico story because it seemed to be a defining moment in Ray's life. It seemed to be the catalyst, or at least one of them, that sparked this wonderful lifetime of writing.

It's a great story. It also influences his religious ideas. He has a quasi-reincarnation feeling that stems from the claim that they knew each other in previous lives. Is this analogy or serious? The truth works its way out in a lot of his writing. Bradbury has a strong moral drive in much of his writing. I think some comes form this sense of continuity Mr. Electrico "planted" in a young Ray's mind in this encounter. I also agree that this encounter is a catalyst in his writing. He clearly sees part of Mr. Electrico's "Live Forever" statement as being fulfilled in his writing.

Definitely the "Halloween Tree" origins in the 1968 "Psychology Today" interview with Chuck Jones.

Tell us more, dandelion. What exactly is the Chuck Jones connection with The Halloween Tree?

Phil
www.bradburymedia.co.uk

Was that the Chuck Jones of Warner Bros. cartoons fame?

Yes, it was THE Chuck Jones. He and Ray were very good friends. An extremely brief rundown is: "The Halloween Tree" was planned as an animated feature by Ray Bradbury and Chuck Jones. Chuck Jones had just finished filming on "The Phantom Tollbooth," which he discussed in the interview at great length. The interviewer pointed out that she saw no dramatic storyline in "The Halloween Tree"--just an educating excursion into the history of Halloween. Ray may well have taken her words to heart, because when he wrote the story as a book, the boys weren't simply taking a trip through Halloweens past but searching for their lost friend, Pipkin. I always like to think this interview was in some part responsible for Pipkin!

Thanks, dandelion. I just did a search and found that you told this tale with more detail once before. Here's a link for anyone interested: http://www.raybradbury.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/000179.html

Phil
www.bradburymedia.co.uk

Just came across this. It may have been noted somewhere before in the mammoth halls of this site, but the date that Ray Bradbury appeared on the TV show, ''You Bet Your Life'', hosted by Groucho Marx, was May 24, 1956. Ray would have been 35 years old at the time.

I don't suppose any recordings exist, do they?

Any idea how the show went? Was Ray introduced as a famous author, or was he just your average contestant?

- Phil

In the 1970s I had a friend not yet born in 1956 whose claim to have seen the tape I believe to be genuine. I've seen episodes of "You Bet Your Life," but not that one. My favorite just might be the French lady who "lost Charles to Gilbert, and Gilbert to 38 cats," or however many she had, and pronounced Vincent Price "Vinsonne Preece."