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RIP Ray Bradbury
News just broke on the passing of Ray Bradbury. Perhaps one of the greatest Writers out there.
I had the honor to first meet Ray Bradbury at LOSCON 1985. Equine The Uncivilized was just recently published and I headed out to Pasadena to sell at the con.
There was a huge crowd around a table as I was waiting for business, and sorta pushed my way through the crowd, seeing this gentleman signing books.
I thrust my hand before his face, Ray at first looked stunned, then reached up and shook my hand where I then said...
"Michael Jackson, I loved the Thriller Album!!!"
Ray looked completely shocked as I grinned and walked off, amid a confused band of Bradbury fans equally puzzled at what I said.
A couple hours later I am at my table, drawing a commission when a meaty hand got thrust in my face, I looked up, it was Ray Bradbury.
Ray said "Huey Lewis!! Loved the Sports Album!!
We both laughed at our silliness. Then I mentioned that I wish I known he'd be at the con, I have him sign my copy of Fahrenheit 451. Ray then suggested I look in the dealersroom for a copy.
No luck, not a single Bradbury book anywhere. I told this to Ray, then he said "I know a small bookshop nearby, lets go look for a copy!!"
Ray Bradbury and I then walked out and to this small used book shop, and found exactly one Bradbury book for sale, "The Illustrated Man".
Ray then signed it "To Huey Lewis from Michael Jackson...aka Ray Bradbury". I laughed at this and we both had lunch at a Subway sandwich shop together. Then back to the con.
For years, everytime I saw Ray I would greet him "Michael Jackson, hows it going?" And Ray would greet back "Doing Great Huey Lewis!!"
And anybody around us would look confused and bewildered. But we didn't care, it was our private joke.
I haven't seen Ray in well over a decade, but will always remember that day at LOSCON 85.
I had the honor to first meet Ray Bradbury at LOSCON 1985. Equine The Uncivilized was just recently published and I headed out to Pasadena to sell at the con.
There was a huge crowd around a table as I was waiting for business, and sorta pushed my way through the crowd, seeing this gentleman signing books.
I thrust my hand before his face, Ray at first looked stunned, then reached up and shook my hand where I then said...
"Michael Jackson, I loved the Thriller Album!!!"
Ray looked completely shocked as I grinned and walked off, amid a confused band of Bradbury fans equally puzzled at what I said.
A couple hours later I am at my table, drawing a commission when a meaty hand got thrust in my face, I looked up, it was Ray Bradbury.
Ray said "Huey Lewis!! Loved the Sports Album!!
We both laughed at our silliness. Then I mentioned that I wish I known he'd be at the con, I have him sign my copy of Fahrenheit 451. Ray then suggested I look in the dealersroom for a copy.
No luck, not a single Bradbury book anywhere. I told this to Ray, then he said "I know a small bookshop nearby, lets go look for a copy!!"
Ray Bradbury and I then walked out and to this small used book shop, and found exactly one Bradbury book for sale, "The Illustrated Man".
Ray then signed it "To Huey Lewis from Michael Jackson...aka Ray Bradbury". I laughed at this and we both had lunch at a Subway sandwich shop together. Then back to the con.
For years, everytime I saw Ray I would greet him "Michael Jackson, hows it going?" And Ray would greet back "Doing Great Huey Lewis!!"
And anybody around us would look confused and bewildered. But we didn't care, it was our private joke.
I haven't seen Ray in well over a decade, but will always remember that day at LOSCON 85.
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Great story, Jim. Would love to see that inscription in the book. From my limited dealings with celebrities when I worked as an extra on movies in the late 80s early 90s, I found that celebrities like to be treated just like everyone else. Most don't enjoy the frenzy crowds and rather enjoy just a handshake and a few kind words.
One of the beset lunches I had was with Julia Roberts while she was visiting Keiffer Sutherland on the set of Young Guns II after their film Flatliners. I had no idea who this person was and she was the nicest person to just sit and talk about everything from the weather to how she was afraid of being stung by a scorpion. I think I really freaked her out when i told her about our Tarantula hawks (a giant wasp that stings tarantulas and then lays its eggs on the spider which is later devoured by its young) Yes this was at Old Tucson and I know you know it cause you lived there. I then got to take her on a tour of the Sonora Desert Museum
My point is I love stories like these. Celebrities will remember these things and unique experiences. Another time i was in New York at an autograph signing for James Doohan and was wearing my new Indiana Jones Fedora my father just bought me. 2 days later I saw him at the hotel we were staying at looking for his jacket. I offered to help and he say, "Thanks Indy, you go look at the front desk and i'll search the bar." Heh found him in the bar later already having a drink where he bought me one.
One of the beset lunches I had was with Julia Roberts while she was visiting Keiffer Sutherland on the set of Young Guns II after their film Flatliners. I had no idea who this person was and she was the nicest person to just sit and talk about everything from the weather to how she was afraid of being stung by a scorpion. I think I really freaked her out when i told her about our Tarantula hawks (a giant wasp that stings tarantulas and then lays its eggs on the spider which is later devoured by its young) Yes this was at Old Tucson and I know you know it cause you lived there. I then got to take her on a tour of the Sonora Desert Museum
My point is I love stories like these. Celebrities will remember these things and unique experiences. Another time i was in New York at an autograph signing for James Doohan and was wearing my new Indiana Jones Fedora my father just bought me. 2 days later I saw him at the hotel we were staying at looking for his jacket. I offered to help and he say, "Thanks Indy, you go look at the front desk and i'll search the bar." Heh found him in the bar later already having a drink where he bought me one.
Rabbi. You always seem to post your memorial images before I ever hear anything on the news. I liked your story about Ray Bradbury, and it really showed his sense of humor and what a good natured fellow he was. I met Ray Bradbury at least three times, but it was only to shake hands and say a quick hello. On the other hand, his presence was well known in the Pasadena and Westwood areas, and I would often see him walking into a book store, visiting LASFAS or dining at a popular eatery. The last time I saw the man was around 2010 at "Too Ee's" restaurant surrounded by his friends and laughing it up while enjoying dinner. He was in a wheelchair and barely could move on his own, but that didn't seem to deter him from enjoying the company of his friends. That's the way I'll remember him.
Dammit Rabbi... I envy ya bigtime now... never got ta meet the man... an havin' had the joy of sharin' yer off-brand wit I know only all too well how strange ya have a way of endearin' yerself ta people ya meet...
Glad ya at least had the chance ta share somethin' so wonderfully personal with Bradbury. *hugsya*
Glad ya at least had the chance ta share somethin' so wonderfully personal with Bradbury. *hugsya*
[chuckles] That's how I'll now remember him, aside from his great lit. He was one of the ones that made an distinct impression upon my writing. I see my voice is very victorian era British, but he, Asimov, Clark, Heinlein, Poul, Anderson, and Wells. All of them still speak though me.
Now Ray does as well. RIP Mr. Bradbury. I only wish I could have meet you.
Now Ray does as well. RIP Mr. Bradbury. I only wish I could have meet you.
Ray Bradbury was my absolute favorite SciFi writer of all time. He was very popular when I was in high school and college: my writing teachers made him mandatory reading.
It's strange. I'm not sad that he died. We will all go someday. But I rejoice that a great body of literary work will survive him! He will always be alive and playing scifi mindgames with all of us!
It's strange. I'm not sad that he died. We will all go someday. But I rejoice that a great body of literary work will survive him! He will always be alive and playing scifi mindgames with all of us!
I was lucky enough to meet Mr. Bradbury in 1983, at the San Diego Comic Con. We were the only two people in the art show when it opened early one morning, and after I was through gushing, we has a fun conversation about Hal Foster, Prince Valiant, and classic comic strips in general. The man was an enormous talent and an exceptionally nice guy, and he will be missed.
I recall another Loscon a couple years later where Ray and Gene Roddenberry had exchanged name badges and were walking about confusing anybody they could. Never did meet Roddenberry there. Ray was always regular fixture at Loscon up until a few years ago.
I think the only autograph I have from Bradbury was on the cover of the 1986 Worldcon program book. Ray had only packed shorts and was freezing all weekend when it turned out to be cold and rainy in Atlanta over Labor Day.
I think the only autograph I have from Bradbury was on the cover of the 1986 Worldcon program book. Ray had only packed shorts and was freezing all weekend when it turned out to be cold and rainy in Atlanta over Labor Day.
All I can say for today is what I wrote down to vent my frustration: "Today I mourn the loss of an American hero: A soldier, a poet and a Martian who never fired a weapon but clashed with injustice, oppression and stupidity while in his underwear with a pen. He was a child at heart, the embodiment of Buck Rodgers and John Carter; space and Mars were his domains; and like the Lowellian wonder of Mars, now the canals of his imagination run dry, forever extinguished, forever dead."
Amazing work nevertheless, and I hope you cherish that memory.
Amazing work nevertheless, and I hope you cherish that memory.
Another great man I regret not meeting. I tried to contact him thought the chaotic and unmaintained message board associated with his official page and it was all in vain.
I feel like a friend from my childhood is gone. I grew up reading his books and some of his stories were deeply influential for me.
I feel like a friend from my childhood is gone. I grew up reading his books and some of his stories were deeply influential for me.
Bradbury was one of the rarest of all science fiction writers in the fact that he understood that Science fiction is never really about science or technology: it's about how science and technology effects people, both the people in the story and the person reading the story. You'll almost never remember the science in a Bradbury story, but you'll always remember the way the story made you feel...
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