The Legacy of Ray Bradbury

THE DEATH OF RAY BRADBURY evokes sorrow among readers of science fiction, and the thought comes  to mind that science fiction is perhaps another of america's great cultural contributions to the world, even though jules verne and h g wells were not american.

ray bradbury, robert heinlein, and robvert silverberg ARE american, arthur c clarke was not, and isaac asimmov was 99% american, 1% russian.

science fiction became important during the last one hundred years as science and technology began advancing ever more rapidly but has stalled out a bit recently,as have human travels into space. fantasy has interbred with science fiction of late;  arthur  c clark believed  that true science fiction utilized only known principles of science; no magic allowed, nor  sorcery, nor wizardry.

bradbury, who was ninety one when he died yesterday, wanted to be buried on mars. fifty years ago bradbury was convinced, as was i, that by the year 2012 mankind would have a permanent colony on mars.  well, we got a bit ahead of oursevles.

bradbury surely died still believing that the human  race will colonize space, and so shall  i so die, but not too soon, i hope. he called us the "in between people", in between the cave man stage and the space exploration stage, as humanity advances towards ever more technology, power, and environmental control.

the idea that we humans will put our descendents in a position to explore and colonize outer space is what ought properly to inspire us all to do better, in everything we do.  like it or not, i am human, and i feel impelled to root hard for the success of those who come after us. and really, i like it.

                                              I make friends with people. And, I wear a derby
                                              on my head, as others do. I say
                                              They are strangely stinking animals. And I say
                                              No matter, I am too.                   
                                                                                                   (Bertolt Brecht)

ray bradbury had a glorious vision of a future humanity scattered across the solar system and galaxy, those still on earth happy, prosperous, peaceful, although you couldn't tell it from reading his books, which often depict struggle, like all great fiction.

but on a deeper level his books depict joy of living, and hope, and we, as did he,  would  do well to bequeath these virtues to the future.

Bb

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