Hello! N00b to the forum here, but I absolutely love Ray Bradbury!

I'm currently a high school student and the first work of Bradbury I've ever read would be the short story "All Summer in a Day" in elementary school. Sadly other than that I haven't been required to read any Bradbury for school. As of now I've read:

-Dark Carnival
-The Illustrated man
-The Golden Apples of the Sun
-The Martian Chronicles
-Fahrenheit 451
-Dandelion Wine (I'll get to this later in the thread/ discussion)
-A Medicine for Melancholy
-Something Wicked This way Comes
- The Stories of Ray Bradbury (800+ pages of goodness, including short stories from all of the books I've mentioned above and stories from The Small Assassin, R is for Rocket, and I sing The Body Electric, my favorite callaborative of Bradbury)
- Half of Bradbury Stories (800+ pages of goodness, second only to "The Stories of Ray Bradbury"
- The Parrot Who Met Papa
- Farewell Summer (A sequel to but not nearly as good as Dandelion Wine)

I would say I am pretty well read in Bradbury. He is definitely may favorite author, the same for many others of you I can safely assume.

My favorite Bradbury book so far is Dandelion Wine. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I'm still technically a child but it really defined Summer perfectly for me. Douglas and Tom Spaulding were impossibly but necessarily too intelligent by the way. What I mean by that is that no child their ages never acts as smart or refined as they do at times but without their intelligence Bradbury never would've been able to get across some of the key points of the work. Did anyone notice the similarity to the short story "A Medicine for the Melancholy" in one of the final chapters of the book?

I have a few questions about Bradbury that I'm sure some of you will know the answer to:

-Have any of you all ever been in contact with Ray?
-Has anyone ever tried to call him? It took me literally five minutes to find his home phone number and address through Google, as well as his personal assistant/ driver's name.
-Did any of you know that the man who has taken us to other planets through his writing has never even gotten his driver's license?
-Is it true that he keeps a few bottles of Dandelion Wine in his cellar/ pantry at his home?
-Does anyone live in Waukegan or has visited Waukegan, Illinois. How do you pronounce that by the way?
- What is his condition nowadays? I believe his his either bedridden and in a wheelchair. At least he's still alive a 90 years old.

Thanks so much for reading. I LOVE Ray Bradbury!

quote:

Originally posted by ZRTMWA:
-Have any of you all ever been in contact with Ray?
-Has anyone ever tried to call him? It took me literally five minutes to find his home phone number and address through Google, as well as his personal assistant/ driver's name.
-Did any of you know that the man who has taken us to other planets through his writing has never even gotten his driver's license?
-Is it true that he keeps a few bottles of Dandelion Wine in his cellar/ pantry at his home?
-Does anyone live in Waukegan or has visited Waukegan, Illinois. How do you pronounce that by the way?
- What is his condition nowadays? I believe his his either bedridden and in a wheelchair. At least he's still alive a 90 years old.

Thanks so much for reading. I LOVE Ray Bradbury!

Smart kid - welcome!
Contact? Yes, several of us are in direct contact with Ray, including me.
Phone him? Yes, I have spoken with him many times on the phone and visited him at home on several occasions. A couple here have done so many more times than I!
He did finally get a driver license last year - for Mars! I'm serious.
He does have a few bottles of that stuff. Mostly sent from fans, I think.
I visited Waukegan last summer. I pronounce it Green Town.
For a 89 year-old stroke victim, his condition is remarkable, we are assured. He travels very well, and is certainly not in a wheelchair out of necessity, but convenience - he can, and does walk often, although not so much in public for the sake of speed and conserving energy. He is most assuredly not bedridden!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Doug Spaulding,

quote:

Originally posted by Doug Spaulding:

quote:

Originally posted by ZRTMWA:
-Have any of you all ever been in contact with Ray?
-Has anyone ever tried to call him? It took me literally five minutes to find his home phone number and address through Google, as well as his personal assistant/ driver's name.
-Did any of you know that the man who has taken us to other planets through his writing has never even gotten his driver's license?
-Is it true that he keeps a few bottles of Dandelion Wine in his cellar/ pantry at his home?
-Does anyone live in Waukegan or has visited Waukegan, Illinois. How do you pronounce that by the way?
- What is his condition nowadays? I believe his his either bedridden and in a wheelchair. At least he's still alive a 90 years old.

Thanks so much for reading. I LOVE Ray Bradbury!

Smart kid - welcome!
Contact? Yes, several of us are in direct contact with Ray, including me.
Phone him? Yes, I have spoken with him many times on the phone and visited him at home on several occasions. A couple here have done so many more times than I!
He did finally get a driver license last year - for Mars! I'm serious.
He does have a few bottles of that stuff. Mostly sent from fans, I think.
I visited Waukegan last summer. I pronounce it Green Town.
For a 89 year-old stoke victim, his condition is remarkable, we are assured. He travels very well, and is certainly not in a wheelchair out of necessity, but convenience - he can, and does walk often, although not so much in public for the sake of speed and conserving energy. He is most assuredly not bedridden!

Thank you so much, you answered all my questions!

Green town, hahaha. They way I see it you can pronounce the first syllable "wah" (baby crying) or "wa" (rhymes with laughing "ha"), the second syllable "ka" ("ha" again) or "kee" (door "key") and the last syllable "gan" (ran) or "gin" ("in"). My guess is wa-kee-gin or wa-ka-gin.

I would love to visit that place anyway! Dandelion Wine really defines all that I can remember of my childhood summers, the time when I really learned, not in school.

It's interesting that you have called him! Did he directly pick up? I feel like if he is ever hospitalized a die-hard fan should fly to Waukegan and find a suburban main street telephone and imitate the events in "Calling Mexico".

I realized I had read one other work of Bradbury in school and that was "Dark they Were, and Golden-Eyed", in mddle school.

Anyone read the short story "The Town Where No One Got Off"? The first time I read it I remember thinking it was the most intense thing ever!!!!

Also I forgot to mention, when reading "Something Wicked This Way Comes" I felt as though I knew the plot at many time! It was incredibly weird and awesome! I think the explanation for this would be that every halloweenish type genre story has been generally based around the novel or has parts of it at least.

Anyone want to take a gander at what his longest short story (oxymoron, I know) is? My guess would be "The Great Wide World Over There" or "Frost and Fire". The shortest is probably "The Aqueduct".

What does anyone recommend I read next?

I have feeling I'm gonna love this forum!!!

Edit: By the way what is your relationship to Mr. Bradbury Doug (great name by the way! )

Are there any works by him in the making?

woah !!! Z is for zippy . you make me feel slow all over . next time anyone talks to mr. bradbury please tell him he's one of a few that saved my life from the inside . i found this forum cause i watched a great youtube video of a recent interview of his . i knew his writing was amazing , but he rocked more than i had hoped

Hi ZRTMWA, and welcome to the board.

Although I live on a different continent, I visited Waukegan last summer. Its pronounced something like this:

wawKEEgun

waw - rhymes with raw
KEE - just like the key to a door

The second syllable is stressed.

If you search these boards, you will find photos from my visit to the town, and probably Doug Spaulding's photos as well (he went there a few months before I did).

I quite like "The Town Where No One Got Off" - it's one of Ray's travelling-to-a-small-town-by-train-stories... a small but significant subgenre of his work! Another one of these (if I recall correctly) is "The Utterly Perfect Murder", which is one of my favourites.

What should you read next? Well, you haven't listed THE MACHINERIES OF JOY or LONG AFTER MIGHNIGHT, so you might want to give those a try (although if you have tackled BRADBURY STORIES and THE STORIES OF RB, you have probably seen many of the stories from these books).

The only major areas you don't seem to have touched yet are:

the mystery novels - start with DEATH IS A LONELY BUSINESS; if this is to your taste, there are two sequels waiting to be devoured.

Ray's non-fiction - there are several books of essays (one on writing and ideas, one on our ideas about the future and cities, one general collection), and an excellent collection of interviews (dating from the 1940s onwards) called CONVERSATIONS WITH RAY BRADBURY. Sam Weller is also publishing a book of Bradbury interviews later this year.

If you haven't already seen it, Jerry Weist's book about Bradbury is a wonder to behold, lots of images from his books, films, TV, stage work etc.

As for "works by him in the making", FAHRENHEIT 451 is still supposedly due to be filmed in the next couple of years, with a screenplay by Frank Darabont. Colonial Radio Theatre is producing a full-cast audio dramatisation of THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES. And there are usually a couple of short films being made from Bradbury stories at any given time. Ray also has a theatre company, which stages his plays in Pasadena throughout the year. Keep an eye out for posts by jkt, who keeps us all in touch with such developments.

And, of course, check out my website (link below)!

quote:

Originally posted by harvey101blind:
next time anyone talks to mr. bradbury please tell him he's one of a few that saved my life from the inside . i found this forum cause i watched a great youtube video of a recent interview of his . i knew his writing was amazing , but he rocked more than i had hoped

Harvey, now that's more like it! (I still think you've been hanging around with George.)

quote:

Originally posted by philnic:
Hi ZRTMWA, and welcome to the board.

Although I live on a different continent, I visited Waukegan last summer. Its pronounced something like this:

wawKEEgun

waw - rhymes with raw
KEE - just like the key to a door

The second syllable is stressed.

If you search these boards, you will find photos from my visit to the town, and probably Doug Spaulding's photos as well (he went there a few months before I did).

I quite like "The Town Where No One Got Off" - it's one of Ray's travelling-to-a-small-town-by-train-stories... a small but significant subgenre of his work! Another one of these (if I recall correctly) is "The Utterly Perfect Murder", which is one of my favourites.

What should you read next? Well, you haven't listed THE MACHINERIES OF JOY or LONG AFTER MIGHNIGHT, so you might want to give those a try (although if you have tackled BRADBURY STORIES and THE STORIES OF RB, you have probably seen many of the stories from these books).

The only major areas you don't seem to have touched yet are:

the mystery novels - start with DEATH IS A LONELY BUSINESS; if this is to your taste, there are two sequels waiting to be devoured.

Ray's non-fiction - there are several books of essays (one on writing and ideas, one on our ideas about the future and cities, one general collection), and an excellent collection of interviews (dating from the 1940s onwards) called CONVERSATIONS WITH RAY BRADBURY. Sam Weller is also publishing a book of Bradbury interviews later this year.

If you haven't already seen it, Jerry Weist's book about Bradbury is a wonder to behold, lots of images from his books, films, TV, stage work etc.

As for "works by him in the making", FAHRENHEIT 451 is still supposedly due to be filmed in the next couple of years, with a screenplay by Frank Darabont. Colonial Radio Theatre is producing a full-cast audio dramatisation of THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES. And there are usually a couple of short films being made from Bradbury stories at any given time. Ray also has a theatre company, which stages his plays in Pasadena throughout the year. Keep an eye out for posts by jkt, who keeps us all in touch with such developments.

And, of course, check out my website (link below)!

Thanks for the pronunciation. I wonder how many hard core fans have visited Waukegan. I was hoping so bad that somebody put photos on here. I will look for them.

I have read "Utterly Perfect Murder". What book was that in? After I read the plot I remembered reading it but I couldn't think what book it was in. It is also called "My Perfect Murder". It was written in 1971 and takes place in Green Town but I still can't find it.

I'm not a big fan of mystery novels but with Bradbury anything is possible right? I'll probably check that out and then "Conversations with Ray Bradbury".

I read half of another book I forgot to mention in the first post. It had a blue cover and some numbers or sunglasses if I remember correctly. It was some sort of interview or something biographical about Ray Bradbury. Anyone know it? It looks like Sam Weller's done a lot with Bradbury. I'll check out him too.

When I said "works in the making" I meant any new material being possibly written by him. Guess there's none?

Thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by ZRTMWA:
Thank you so much, you answered all my questions!

Green town, hahaha. They way I see it you can pronounce the first syllable "wah" (baby crying) or "wa" (rhymes with laughing "ha"), the second syllable "ka" ("ha" again) or "kee" (door "key") and the last syllable "gan" (ran) or "gin" ("in"). My guess is wa-kee-gin or wa-ka-gin.

I would love to visit that place anyway! Dandelion Wine really defines all that I can remember of my childhood summers, the time when I really learned, not in school.

It's interesting that you have called him! Did he directly pick up? I feel like if he is ever hospitalized a die-hard fan should fly to Waukegan and find a suburban main street telephone and imitate the events in "Calling Mexico".

I realized I had read one other work of Bradbury in school and that was "Dark they Were, and Golden-Eyed", in mddle school.

Anyone read the short story "The Town Where No One Got Off"? The first time I read it I remember thinking it was the most intense thing ever!!!!

Also I forgot to mention, when reading "Something Wicked This Way Comes" I felt as though I knew the plot at many time! It was incredibly weird and awesome! I think the explanation for this would be that every halloweenish type genre story has been generally based around the novel or has parts of it at least.

Anyone want to take a gander at what his longest short story (oxymoron, I know) is? My guess would be "The Great Wide World Over There" or "Frost and Fire". The shortest is probably "The Aqueduct".

What does anyone recommend I read next?

I have feeling I'm gonna love this forum!!!

Edit: By the way what is your relationship to Mr. Bradbury Doug (great name by the way! )

Are there any works by him in the making?

You're entirely welcome!

Wah-key-gen or Waw-key-gen seems to be the norm. With the "key" stressed, as Phil says.

You are certainly right to say that you will learn more from Dandelion Wine than you will at school - I did!

He always picks up when I call him. And is always up for a few minutes of chat, regardless of how busy he is (and he is busy!). He's swell!

I always thought Frost and Fire was the longest - can anyone here confirm that? The One Who Waits has to be one of the shortest. I haven't done a comparison as yet.

What to read next? I would suggest something by Ray Bradbury! You've read lots, so now just read the rest. Zen in the Art of Writing would be a good choice. Or The Bradbury Chronicles, to name a couple of the non-fiction, just to mix it up.

My relationship is this: We are friends. I first befriended him whilst working on a documentary about 4E Ackerman, which Ray graciously offered to provide an interview. This was at a book-signing, and, when I asked him, he immediately flipped my copy of Dark Carnival to the back of the dust cover, scribbled something, and thrust it back to me saying "that's my phone number - call me next week at noon!". Well, yes sir! Call I did, and I have been a Ray groupie ever since. I am now working on a documentary more directly related to Ray, called, tentatively, Fr Electrico.

Oh, and Ray is not a stoke victim, by the way. I have made the necessary correction.

my father told me the story of electrico differently than i heard mr. bradbury explain it . i dont know if he was trying to get my attention as a kid , or if it was in a story i havent read yet . he said as ray was walking into the carnival there was heat lightning storm . and ray imagined a giant made of lightning form in front of him , reach down and wisper live forever . is that from a story ?

quote:

Originally posted by harvey101blind:
my father told me the story of electrico differently than i heard mr. bradbury explain it . i dont know if he was trying to get my attention as a kid , or if it was in a story i havent read yet . he said as ray was walking into the carnival there was heat lightning storm . and ray imagined a giant made of lightning form in front of him , reach down and wisper live forever . is that from a story ?

Your father made it up. Free-form even from him, eh?

The real Electrico story is fascinating on many levels.

can you tell me what book i can read it in ?

quote:

Originally posted by harvey101blind:
can you tell me what book i can read it in ?

He touches on it in Pieta Summer from We'll Always Have Paris, but the much fuller version is in Surround Yourself With Your Loves and Live Forever!

quote:

Originally posted by ZRTMWA:
...It had a blue cover and some numbers or sunglasses if I remember correctly. It was some sort of interview or something biographical about Ray Bradbury. Anyone know it?...

...When I said "works in the making" I meant any new material being possibly written by him. Guess there's none?...

The book with the glasses on might be RAY BRADBURY by Wayne Johnson, which is a combination of biography, appreciation and interviews. Or it might have been BRADBURY SPEAKS, which is a collection of Ray's essays.

Forthcoming books by Ray: there are usually a few items on the way. Check out the websites of Gauntlet Press and Subterranean Press, as they have some items coming soon.

quote:

Originally posted by philnic:

quote:

Originally posted by ZRTMWA:
...It had a blue cover and some numbers or sunglasses if I remember correctly. It was some sort of interview or something biographical about Ray Bradbury. Anyone know it?...

...When I said "works in the making" I meant any new material being possibly written by him. Guess there's none?...

The book with the glasses on might be RAY BRADBURY by Wayne Johnson, which is a combination of biography, appreciation and interviews. Or it might have been BRADBURY SPEAKS, which is a collection of Ray's essays.

Forthcoming books by Ray: there are usually a few items on the way. Check out the websites of Gauntlet Press and Subterranean Press, as they have some items coming soon.

Thanks again, it was Bradbury Speaks. Imagine if Ray hasn't even written what will become his most famous and loved book yet... Wouldn't that be incredible?!?! In 50 years maybe that's the book we'll all remember him for. One can only imagine...

I'm sure his creative juices are still flowing.

Hey philnic and Doug Spaulding: could you guys send me links to the threads that have your pics of Waukegan in them? I searched but I couldn't find them. Thanks.