Ray Bradbury: 1920 - 2012

Famed science fiction-fantasy author Ray Bradbury has passed away at the age 91. I purchased three paperbacks of his novels 30 years ago -- Fahrenheit 451; The Martian Chronicles; The Illustrated Man. Those same three dog-eared copies have followed me throughout my life, and have been brought down and reread hundreds of times. Two of his short stories, in fact, shaped my love of two distinct literary genres.  A Sound of Thunder shaped my love of time travel -- and its inherent dangers. And There Will Come Soft Rains is a melancholy post-apocalyptic slice of life. Thanks Ray for being the first author who sparked that inkling of inspiration in me.