Bradbury on the big screen

Auditorium Speaker Series: Sam Weller Videoconference with Ray Bradbury
Monday, June 27, 1:30 pm - 3:30 pm

Sam Weller is Bradbury's biographer. He wrote The Bradbury Chronicles that was published this year. For this program, Sam Weller was in the auditorium with us, interviewing Ray Bradbury by live video feed. This session was filled with memorable Bradbury quotes.

"All the important women in my life are librarians."

"Instead of going to college, I went to the library." The library is a place where you can be present in the "ambience of all your favorite writers."

As a boy, he fell in love with L. Frank Baum at a Carnegie library (built in 1902) in Waukegan, Illinois. At age twelve, he moved across the country. Every night when they stopped for the evening, he rushed over to the local library. In many places he discovered that "his friends" (Oz books, Tarzan books) were not at the library. This is when he developed an interest in censorship that later led to the central idea in Farenheit 451.

Bradbury wrote Farenheit 451 in a library when he discovered that a typewriter in a tiny room could be rented for ten cents for 30 minutes. He spent $9.80 in dimes and wrote Farenheit 451 in nine days.

He will be 85 in August. What is his secret to long life? "Borrow the energy from the ideas."

His advice to librarians is the same as his answer to everything: "Fall in love and stay in love." He fell in love with architecture, dinosaurs, and Buck Rogers while still a child and they have continued to inspire his career.

"The most important building on campus is the library." Bradbury says that teaching inspires dreams but the library fulfills them. Fulfilling dreams is the most important role of librarians.

His response to the provisions of the PATRIOT Act that disturb librarians: "Never be scared--only be angry."

When asked about writing groups, he said that they can be useful for short stories but they should never be used for novels. His advice for novels and other projects: "Jump off the cliff and build your wings on the way down."     #

June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007