Thursday, August 22, 2013

Happy Birthday, Ray Bradbury!


This entry is slightly hard for me to write. It is my father's birthday. I pulled the entry where I talk about the loss of my father, but I still miss him frequently and the horrible events that couple his death as still incredibly raw. Every year I try to do something extra special around his birthday to keep his memory alive in a positive way. Right now I put out a trackable through my hobby of geocaching that is in honor of him and is meant to keep his spirit going. It just recently came to rest in Mississippi after having left from the Harley Davidson Museum in Milwaukee, WI.

As I thought about my father, I also remembered that another inspirational person was born on this day in Waukegan, IL and I want to take a few moments to recognize him. Not only does this person connect to my own love of film (Truffaut's Fahrenheit 451), but he's written work that has influenced generations! Heck, Fahrenheit 451 is even on my bookcart at school for one of our units on Human Rights!

I'm not going to say much about it, but I just wanted to have a little moment where I could recognize an author that I love and enjoy. I am currently reading The October Country and The Halloween Tree. Another funny moment was when I first started dating my now husband, he would always talk down the Martian Chronicles and talk up the Martian Tales by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The joke is that the Martian Chronicles was sometimes known as "the OTHER Martian Tales." Ray (the husband, not the author... yet) always made sure to point that out to me. I love Bradbury's dark spirit and haunting imagery. My students had their first encounter with his work when I read to them All Summer in a Day at the end of the school year. Intense stuff.

So happy birthday, Mr. Bradbury!


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