Philosophy
The Writer's Almanac...
It's the birthday of science fiction writer Ray Bradbury, born in Waukegan, Illinois (1920). He's the author of many books of science fiction, including The Martian Chronicles (1950) and Fahrenheit 451 (1953). One of his ancestors, Mary Bradbury, was burned as a witch in Salem, Massachusetts, and he said he got from her his anxiety about fearmongering and thought control. He said, "Science fiction is a wonderful hammer; I intend to use it when and if necessary, to bark a few shins or knock a few heads, in order to make people leave people alone." He told Paris Review, "I prefer to see myself as the Janus, the two-faced god who is half Pollyanna and half Cassandra, warning of the future and perhaps living too much in the past — a combination of both." He didn't go to college, because the family couldn't afford it, but he did go to libraries ... at least three times a week for 10 years. He wrote Fahrenheit 451 on a rented typewriter in the basement of UCLA's Powell Library.
As a boy, he read Edgar Allan Poe and The Wizard of Oz. And when he was 12, a traveling carnival came to town, and he met a magician named Mr. Electrico, who believed young Ray was the reincarnation of a friend who had died in his arms in World War I. Later, at the show, Mr. Electrico touched people in the front row with his electrically charged sword, making their hair stand on end. "When he came to me, he touched me on the brow, and on the nose, and on the chin, and he said to me, in a whisper, 'Live forever.' And I decided to."
Soooooo, you want to be a writer...a science fiction writer?
Ray Bradbury [Wikipedia]
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- Robert Heinlein...would Have Been 102 Today
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Philosophy
Ray Bradbury...a writer...a science fiction writer
The Writer's Almanac...
It's the birthday of science fiction writer Ray Bradbury, born in Waukegan, Illinois (1920). He's the author of many books of science fiction, including The Martian Chronicles (1950) and Fahrenheit 451 (1953). One of his ancestors, Mary Bradbury, was burned as a witch in Salem, Massachusetts, and he said he got from her his anxiety about fearmongering and thought control. He said, "Science fiction is a wonderful hammer; I intend to use it when and if necessary, to bark a few shins or knock a few heads, in order to make people leave people alone." He told Paris Review, "I prefer to see myself as the Janus, the two-faced god who is half Pollyanna and half Cassandra, warning of the future and perhaps living too much in the past — a combination of both." He didn't go to college, because the family couldn't afford it, but he did go to libraries ... at least three times a week for 10 years. He wrote Fahrenheit 451 on a rented typewriter in the basement of UCLA's Powell Library.
As a boy, he read Edgar Allan Poe and The Wizard of Oz. And when he was 12, a traveling carnival came to town, and he met a magician named Mr. Electrico, who believed young Ray was the reincarnation of a friend who had died in his arms in World War I. Later, at the show, Mr. Electrico touched people in the front row with his electrically charged sword, making their hair stand on end. "When he came to me, he touched me on the brow, and on the nose, and on the chin, and he said to me, in a whisper, 'Live forever.' And I decided to."
Soooooo, you want to be a writer...a science fiction writer?
Ray Bradbury:Story of a Writer
1963
1963
Ray Bradbury [Wikipedia]
Dimension X's "There Will Come Soft Rain--Zero Hour"...old time radio offering #3
X Minus One's "Mars Is Heaven"...old time radio offering #20
- Einstein's Jewish Science In The New York Times
Einstein's Jewish Science got a very nice review by George Johnson in The New York Times. Gimbel is an engaging writer. In demonstrating the obvious, he takes readers on enlightening excursions through the nature of Judaism, Hegelian philosophy, wherever...
- Rod Serling
"It is difficult to produce a television documentary that is both incisive and probing when every twelve minutes one is interrupted by twelve dancing rabbits singing about toilet paper." Writer's Almanac... Today is "the birthday of Rod Serling, born...
- Go Curiosity, Goooooooooo
"Rover takes its first spin on Mars" by James Dean August 22nd, 2012 USA TODAY NASA's Curiosity rover successfully completed its first drive on Mars Wednesday."We have a fully functioning mobility system," announced Matt Heverly, an engineer at...
- Robert Heinlein...would Have Been 102 Today
Robert Heinlein July 7th, 1907 to May 8th, 1988 Robert Heinlein would have been 102 on this date. He was a major contributor to the realm of science fiction and can take an honored place among Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Philip K. Dick, Frederik Pohl...
- Forrest J. Ackerman's Collection To Be Sold
"Ackerman sci-fi, horror collection up for sale" by John Rogers February 4th, 2009 The Associated Press He always vowed that he wouldn't die unless he could take it with him. But now that Forrest J Ackerman really is gone, the grand old man of science...