Total Wow!!
Last night I was granted the once in a lifetime opportunity to see and hear Ray Bradbury, author extraordinaire, in person!! Needless to say, I jumped at the chance.
It was a very small venue, the recreation hall of a local Southern California park. It was an event put together by the Upland Library. There were about 250 people there.
We waited an hour for the opportunity to purchase one of his books or to have him sign a book you brought with you. Then at 7pm he shared some of his life's stories with us.
He is truly a remarkable man. His major theme was to do what you love. Never let someone steal your love of something from you. Defend it, embrace it, live it, own it. Your Love, whatever it may be, is yours and how you allow what you love to affect you can drastically effect your life.
Though he shared far too many stories for me to gab about... and the fact that my memory sucks... I will only share one with you today. Arguably his greatest work is Fahrenheit 451.
As he has mostly written short stories during his lifetime this one started as a short story submitted under the name The Fireman. A publisher called him up and said that he wanted to publish this story as a book, but it needed to be at least 5,000 words long. Flustered, Ray exclaimed that it was very far away from 5,000 words in length. The publisher explained that it had to BE a book in order to be published AS a book. Ray promised he would expand his story into a book length work.
He was rather panicked because he did not have an office at this time and he needed an office in order to concentrate on stretching his short story into a book. He was brooding and angsting about it while sitting in the UCLA Library... as a side bar he took this opportunity to remind us all that to a writer the only advantage to being on a University Campus was to take advantage of their very large library! So there he was, gloomy and depressed as he had no idea where in the world he was going to find an office that was cheep enough for him to afford when he heard the faint sounds of typing. Being the overly curious sort of person, he of course followed the sound.
He found himself in the basement of the Library in a cramped room that was filled with about 20 typewriters, each on its own small desk. There were about 15 people sitting at various places and they were all diligently typing away on something. Amazed, he noticed a sign which informed him that you could actually rent these marvelous machines for only ten cents for 30 minutes! He nearly jumped up and down in excitement and joy! He had found his office.
He then dryly shared that it cost him $9.80 to write the book. He struggled with the title though. The short story was called The Fireman but that didn't really draw the focus onto what he wanted it too... Inspiration hit him and he rushed to the phone and called the Chemistry Department to ask them at what temperature did book paper burn.
Unfortunately, they did not know. The Science Department did not know. He realized he was in a large University Library so he sought the answer himself... and discovered that the Library did not know. So in a fit of desperation he called the Los Angeles County Fire Chief and asked him at what temperature did book paper burn. He was put on hold for quite a while when the Fire Chief came back and calmly informed him that book paper would burn once it reached 451 degrees fahrenheit. After a quick switch, the title of his most beloved book was born: Fahrenheit 451. A story written as a way to express his love of Libraries and his fear that we may one day treat them as they had been treated in Hitler's Germany or Stalin's Russia.
He used this tale as just one of many examples how expressing his love of something morphed into another step in his career.
I was touched and enthralled, and thought of all of you while I was there... so I had to share with you.
I thought of my loves... I love God, my family, my friends, my country, reading, tv, movies, music, and fanfiction... and I have certainly been blessed as my love of reading led to fanfiction and my love of fanfiction led to this remarkable community.
Share your thoughts about Ray Bradbury, science fiction, or the loves of your life.
Love ya all,
SV_SlashBunny
It was a very small venue, the recreation hall of a local Southern California park. It was an event put together by the Upland Library. There were about 250 people there.
We waited an hour for the opportunity to purchase one of his books or to have him sign a book you brought with you. Then at 7pm he shared some of his life's stories with us.
He is truly a remarkable man. His major theme was to do what you love. Never let someone steal your love of something from you. Defend it, embrace it, live it, own it. Your Love, whatever it may be, is yours and how you allow what you love to affect you can drastically effect your life.
Though he shared far too many stories for me to gab about... and the fact that my memory sucks... I will only share one with you today. Arguably his greatest work is Fahrenheit 451.
As he has mostly written short stories during his lifetime this one started as a short story submitted under the name The Fireman. A publisher called him up and said that he wanted to publish this story as a book, but it needed to be at least 5,000 words long. Flustered, Ray exclaimed that it was very far away from 5,000 words in length. The publisher explained that it had to BE a book in order to be published AS a book. Ray promised he would expand his story into a book length work.
He was rather panicked because he did not have an office at this time and he needed an office in order to concentrate on stretching his short story into a book. He was brooding and angsting about it while sitting in the UCLA Library... as a side bar he took this opportunity to remind us all that to a writer the only advantage to being on a University Campus was to take advantage of their very large library! So there he was, gloomy and depressed as he had no idea where in the world he was going to find an office that was cheep enough for him to afford when he heard the faint sounds of typing. Being the overly curious sort of person, he of course followed the sound.
He found himself in the basement of the Library in a cramped room that was filled with about 20 typewriters, each on its own small desk. There were about 15 people sitting at various places and they were all diligently typing away on something. Amazed, he noticed a sign which informed him that you could actually rent these marvelous machines for only ten cents for 30 minutes! He nearly jumped up and down in excitement and joy! He had found his office.
He then dryly shared that it cost him $9.80 to write the book. He struggled with the title though. The short story was called The Fireman but that didn't really draw the focus onto what he wanted it too... Inspiration hit him and he rushed to the phone and called the Chemistry Department to ask them at what temperature did book paper burn.
Unfortunately, they did not know. The Science Department did not know. He realized he was in a large University Library so he sought the answer himself... and discovered that the Library did not know. So in a fit of desperation he called the Los Angeles County Fire Chief and asked him at what temperature did book paper burn. He was put on hold for quite a while when the Fire Chief came back and calmly informed him that book paper would burn once it reached 451 degrees fahrenheit. After a quick switch, the title of his most beloved book was born: Fahrenheit 451. A story written as a way to express his love of Libraries and his fear that we may one day treat them as they had been treated in Hitler's Germany or Stalin's Russia.
He used this tale as just one of many examples how expressing his love of something morphed into another step in his career.
I was touched and enthralled, and thought of all of you while I was there... so I had to share with you.
I thought of my loves... I love God, my family, my friends, my country, reading, tv, movies, music, and fanfiction... and I have certainly been blessed as my love of reading led to fanfiction and my love of fanfiction led to this remarkable community.
Share your thoughts about Ray Bradbury, science fiction, or the loves of your life.
Love ya all,
SV_SlashBunny