This iReport is part of an assignment:
Ray Bradbury's legacy
I fell under the spell ...
- nsaidi, CNN iReport producer
I fell under the spell of Ray Bradbury as a teenager when I stumbled upon his book 'The Golden Apples of the Sun': it was the beginning of a literary love-affair that has lasted the rest of my life.
I was 24 years old when I wrote Ray a fan-letter from London, England, telling him how much his books meant to me and asking him questions about our mutual hero, Walt Disney. And 38 years ago this very week he replied, apologizing for the fact that he was so busy that his response would have to be short. Nevertheless, once he started typing, he filled two pages, top to bottom, margin to margin, with electrifying prose!
I was so thrilled by his reply, that I wrote back by return – never once thinking it might be just a one-off communication. And, as luck would have it wasn't! For almost four decades we corresponded and met and talked about books and comics and films and art; about life and love, sorrow and happiness, fears and hopes, yesteryear and – especially – tomorrow.
Along the way, he changed my life forever by making me view the world in a way I could never have previously envisaged and by tirelessly encouraging me in my own writing career – chiefly by reminding me to follow and celebrate my passions.
The world has lost a great writer, a man of extraordinary vision, humanity and optimism whose stories, novels, plays and poetry will live on for as long as we read (and don't start burning) books.
The world has that legacy, but I have also lost a friend…
Brian Sibley
I was 24 years old when I wrote Ray a fan-letter from London, England, telling him how much his books meant to me and asking him questions about our mutual hero, Walt Disney. And 38 years ago this very week he replied, apologizing for the fact that he was so busy that his response would have to be short. Nevertheless, once he started typing, he filled two pages, top to bottom, margin to margin, with electrifying prose!
I was so thrilled by his reply, that I wrote back by return – never once thinking it might be just a one-off communication. And, as luck would have it wasn't! For almost four decades we corresponded and met and talked about books and comics and films and art; about life and love, sorrow and happiness, fears and hopes, yesteryear and – especially – tomorrow.
Along the way, he changed my life forever by making me view the world in a way I could never have previously envisaged and by tirelessly encouraging me in my own writing career – chiefly by reminding me to follow and celebrate my passions.
The world has lost a great writer, a man of extraordinary vision, humanity and optimism whose stories, novels, plays and poetry will live on for as long as we read (and don't start burning) books.
The world has that legacy, but I have also lost a friend…
Brian Sibley
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