Thank You, Ray

“He put the sword on my brow and the tip of my nose and cried, ‘Live forever!’

“When you’re a child, you begin to dream yourself into a shape… and then you run into the future and try to become that shape.”

“A writer’s past is the most important thing he has.”

“I discovered — along the way — I was a collector of metaphors.”

“Love is at the center of your life. The things that you do should be things that you love. And things that you love should be things that you do.”

Ray Bradbury was a more profound influence in my life than either of the men I could call “father.” Today, after more than ninety one years on the planet (seventy eight of them spent at the age of thirteen), my story-father has died.

I miss knowing he’s out there somewhere, surrounded by the artifacts of his imagination, working away.

I am so grateful for his words, and his worlds, and his example. Would that we could all, like Ray, live forever.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

About Matthew Selznick

3 Responses to “Thank You, Ray”

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  1. Jess Haight says:

    What a great tribute to an amazing author. I loved the videos that went with the post and your words were touching.

    • Matthew Selznick says:

      Thank you, Jess. It was a sad day… I’m still occasionally struck by the fact that he’s gone!

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  1. [...] master and Ray Bradbury had been best friends since they were teen-agers. I’ve talked about Ray Bradbury’s influence on my life and creative work before, but Ray Harryhausen got to me first, via a set of View Master disks that brought dinosaurs [...]



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