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Ray Bradbury Turns 88
Lawrence Person writes "Legendary science fiction writer Ray Bradbury turned 88 years old on August 22. Happy Birthday Ray! 'The Illustrated Man' was one of the first science fiction books I ever read, and I've been hooked ever since. I'm sure that's true of a lot of science fiction writers and readers, be it that, or 'The Martian Chronicles,' or 'Fahrenheit 451.' There are also several videos of Ray on that page, including one where he doesn't endorse Sunsweet Prunes." I remember when another student on the bus loaned me "Fahrenheit 451," and my middle-school English teacher Mrs. Young was smart enough to include "All Summer in a Day" in her curriculum.
Yeah, it should, considering he is one of the most influential SF writers to date. Slashdot loves scifi, so, we love to hear about this stuff.
There's a reason why Foundation and Dune come up a lot.
Show this to your friends and family that don't know what a real hacker is
If you can find me one geek who doesn't list an SF writer as a major influence in their interest in technology, then I'll agree with you.
I have my doubts that you would succeed though. For me it was Douglas Adams.
A learning experience is one of those things that say, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.' - D. Adams
The British and Australian MPs, on the other hand, appear to be using them as a policy guide. We're not too far behind.
By some chance both All Summer in a Day and Sound of Thunder were in my 7th grade lit book, better than the crap my kids are assigned to read.
"Technology.....the knack of so arranging the world that we don't have to experience it." Max Firsch
Actually, in high school we read Animal Farm and 1984, and my middle school's library got kids to read Fahrenheit 451.
Maybe not the norm, but nice anyway. I sped-read through Brave New World. Didn't like it as much.
In one of my high school English classes, we actually discussed how one goes about creating a closed society. Relating it to the reading that we were doing (either 1984 or Animal Farm) gave a whole new dimension to the novel.
I kind of thought that Fahrenheit 451 was less about government oppression and book burning, and more about a society that has become so apathetic that they allow the government to oppress them and burn their books. The second-scariest part of the book, for me, was that almost nobody really cared that the book burnings, oppression, and even the atomic war were even going on. The scariest part was how much it reminded me of the society I live in, or at least my perception of it.
I couldn't find out when Ray Bradbury got married, but I would guess it was 40+ years ago. Believe or not there was a time where most did not even know the term sexual harrasment.
Fahrenheit 451 and Orwell's 1984 should be required reading in our schools. But I don't think the folks who want to hang on to their power would like that.
Both are, in fact, commonly found in high school curricula - no reason to get all melodramatic (it takes more than a couple of books, no matter how poignant, to trouble those who "want to hang on to their power").
sic transit gloria mundi
I don't think anyone questions his credentials, but I think it does make for a slow news day to point out his 88th birthday. Is this an annual announcement that is made here? Were there front page stories for his 73rd, 68th, or what about 86th?
For what it is worth, it also was the 91st birthday of John Lee Hooker, the 69th birthday of Carl Yastrzemski, and the 146th birthday of Claude Debussy. If you want to argue that these people don't fit in with the slashdot crowd (and before you do, don't forget that baseball nerds and geeks by far predate computer geeks), shouldn't we have mentioned that the 11th was Steve Wozniak's 58th birthday, the 7th was James Randi's 80th birthday (good lord, I didn't know he was that old, but at least that is one of those decadal numbers people get all worked up about), the 5th was Neil Armstrong's 78th, and the 19th would have been Gene Roddenberry's 87th birthday.
Unless there is some significance to this particular birthday, I would have to agree with the GP that it must be a slow news day for this to make the front page.
I have to agree with the grandparent post. Sure, Ray Bradbury is important in the sci-fi world. But is he anymore important than say Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Larry Ellison?
Yes.
The people who shape others thoughts by means of art, culture, analogy and metaphor are and always will be revered. The people who contribute to the economy today are merely remembered, not revered. There is a very good reason for this.
I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.