Ray Bradbury.
Via Making Light. Because 2 major newspapers hadn't yet gotten the news.
(Of course I'm upset. His age notwithstanding, he was my formal introduction to science fiction (I had read some other things, but at the library I frequented as a teenager, he was the first author whose work I glommed onto before all others. Which, yes, in a world where Fahrenheit 451 is required reading, is incomprehensible), and even though I would probably find some of the stories I read with such pleasure as a young 'un itchy-making now, I would still recommend his books.)
ETA: New York Times now has an obituary, written by Gerald Jonas, who used to review sf in the Book Review section (I am being kind.)
1 comment:
Its a shock now, when you re-read 451... he foretold so much, even reality TV, televised police-chases. Freaking genius.
I always wished PKD would get the same treatment, but I think he is like the shadow-Bradbury, and has the respect of the underground, while RB was above-ground. (Similarly, RB was happy, sane and upbeat; PKD was sad, insane, pessimistic) But whenever I see a news-show that is primarily graphics and snazzy-pics and little actual news, I remember PKD foretelling that way back in the 50s (Solar Lottery, to be exact).
Sci-fi writers are our own prophets. Thus, when they leave us, we feel an almost-religious sense of loss. :(
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