.

.

We say farewell to a Great One today with the passing of Ray Bradbury.

Blessed with a rich and long life, he was an incredible gift to the child in us all.

I’m going to keep Mr. Bradbury and all the charming and chill provoking memories he imbedded deep within my adolescent heart in my thoughts for the rest of this day and especially this evening when I tuck myself into bed and recall all those nights reading under the covers (often with flashlights)…

Who can forget the palpable sense of foreboding while reading “Something Wicked This Way Comes”?

Though the piddly, pathetic excuse for a  ”carnival” that occasionally passed through our small town in British Columbia was, disappointingly, much less real than the one Bradbury had created in my mind, compare it I did; imagining far more sinister goings-on behind the mouldy tarps than reality delivered

 ( probably just a few guys in sweat stained “Deep Purple” t-shirts and Harrachi sandals passing a filthy joint)

.

.

Or the unimaginable horror of living in a world where all books had to be burned,

sacrificed to a television addicted society

(Hey, wait a minute…)

.

.

.

That “Science Fiction” wasn’t just for boys…

.

and a body covered with spine-tingling stories kept me preoccupied for days…

.

or perhaps my favourite, which I think I’ll run out and get a copy of today;

The quiet, soothing imagery of Bradbury’s own small town recollections; ink black skies punctuated with fireflies and  porch swings swaying with the invisible hand of a hot and eery wind…

.

For me, a voracious adolescent reader and an avid fan of “horror” in particular, Bradbury was like the genius love child of Edgar Allan Poe and Harpur Lee.

Simply wonderful.

.

.

.

“Dandelion wine. The words were summer on the tongue. The wine was summer caught and stoppered.”

.

.

.

.

RIP Mr. Bradbury.

1920-2012

Thanks for the memories.

There is now one more amazing story coming to life upon the skin of The Illustrated Man.

.

.

~