Man of Tomorrow - RIP Ray Bradbury

I am saddened to hear this afternoon that author, Ray Bradbury has passed away at the age of 91 - his 1962 novella Something Wicked this way comes is one of my all time favourite stories.

"Bradbury died peacefully, last night, in Los Angeles, after a lengthy illness," HarperCollins said in a written statement.

91 is a pretty good innings by any standards and during that time Bradbury left a massive footprint that will leave him truly immortal. Bradbury received the 2000 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, the 2004 National Medal of Arts and a 2007 Pulitzer Prize Special Citation.

Bradbury lived in Los Angeles since his family moved there from his native Waukegan, Illinois, to look for work during the Great Depression.He is survived by his four daughters, Susan Nixon, Ramona Ostergren, Bettina Karapetian and Alexandra Bradbury, and eight grandchildren. His wife of 57 years, Marguerite, died in 2003.The biography released by his publisher quoted a story in which Bradbury recounted meeting a carnival magician, Mr. Electrico, in 1932. Electrico touched the 12-year-old Bradbury with his sword and commanded, "Live forever!"

It's e451

Author Ray Bradbury has finally relented which means that his famed 1953 dystopian classic about a future America in which people are ruled by electronic devices, reading is banned,  will finally become available as an eBook.

Bradbury's hatred of the Internet is well known and according to his agent he's not terribly fond of eReaders either -  the rights for Fahrenheit 451 were expiring and due to the  fact that the digital book market continues to grow, a deal that included eBooks was inevitable. Bradbury didn’t have much choice in the matter.

This week  Simon & Schuster will also publish a new trade paperback edition on January 10, 2012. The mass market editions of Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man will go on sale in March 2012.