Ray Bradbury 1920-2012

The tributes are rapidly coming in today on the spreading news of Ray Bradbury’s passing.

Neil Gaiman’s blog post and Guardian write up are particularly great; along with Time’s articles here and here; and this video tribute from NASA on his visit to the Mars Rovers in 2009 is quite special.

But probably the best one is this excerpt from a symposium in 1971 where, with the likes of Carl Sagan and Arthur C Clarke, he reads his poem “If Only We Had Taller Been”.

Recently, I’ve linked several articles with topics on both the decline and growth of science fiction writing, but admittedly at the same time, it’s been many years since I’ve read any science-fiction and even more since I last read any Bradbury. Even though he came to dislike the internet, I’d like to think that with so much love and tributes from around the world being shared today, it will help point generations of readers, both new and old to pick up a copy of something like the Martian Chronicles and be inspired again. I know I will.