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I've met quite a few celebrities more than the years. But couple of have been as generous, captivating, inspiring and funny as Ray Bradbury.
My 1st encounter with Ray occurred a lengthy time ago. He was the keynote speaker at my High School Graduation: Palm Springs High School, Class of 1983. I keep in mind two points about Ray from that night.
1) He told the story of a time traveler who returned to his present time and informed his colleagues about the future which was perfectly ecologically centric, outer space adventurous, and culturally rich for just about every citizen. When the present timers finally lived to a ripe old age and had built the future the time traveler had witnessed, they all gathered at the precise spot the aged future historian had lengthy ago transported himself to so they could witness the reappearance of his younger self. The clock ticked past the allotted arrival time, where they politely waited, then grew anxious. Finally, properly past the expected moment of his arrival, the old scientist turned to those gathered and admitted, "I lied."
2) The second thing I keep in mind about that night was the ASB President bragging about how they got Ray Bradbury to be the keynote speaker: He owned a dwelling in Palm Springs and did not charge them to come.
Years later, I located myself a book shop owner in Palm Springs. I'm in my early thirties and the landlord has forced a name upon my store in wanting to generate a Hollywood theme for the block of store fronts he is attempting to rent. My shop was called celebrity Books and I'd collected a sizeable choice of Biographies and was attempting to grow an Autographed Section in keeping with the theme of the shop. It was at this time that I remembered the ASB President's words: "Ray Bradbury owns a home here."
Now the world-wide-web was a growing thing in the early 1990's and I discovered Ray was going to be at a first ever grand book fair up at UCLA and I was determined to speak to him. I did, and over the din of the crowd generating it virtually impossible to hear, he signed my book and added his phone number to the title page.
I named and he came. Ray showed up in an old wood sided station wagon turned taxi cab by a man who I learned had been his individual driver whenever he came to town - due to the fact Ray did not drive - for more than thirty years. Through the event, Ray got thirsty and asked for a chocolate milk shake and a toasted cheese sandwich. I sent a runner to a nearby restaurant. We ordered off the normal menu and obliged him. We sold more books than I ever had in my life in a single day. My modest, sadly worn and unglamorous, pretty much entirely utilised merchandise, store was host to various hundreds of patrons, customers and fans. That day, Ray Bradbury transformed my shop from an interesting second hand enterprise to a Palm Springs landmark.
The next year came and I named Ray once more. This time we couldn't schedule an suitable time for maximum effect and he finally suggested, "Just put together the books you can and I'll stop by and sign them." The day came when he was supposed to show up and I had other items I had to do. My employee at the time was an old friend who had just moved out here from the east coast and he was reluctant to believe that Ray Bradbury was going to show up and sign this substantial stack of books for me and not want a thing. As I was attempting to clarify the circumstance to my friend, Ray showed up, and with couple of words signed just about every book in the store he'd written - immediately turning the nice but regular priced pile of books into a useful pile of literary gold. My friend named home (saucer eyed) to his mom and told her who he had just run into.
I had the shop for ten years and Ray showed a half dozen times. Each time he was generous with me and the crowd, and he was personal and intriguing to every individual. A lot of of his fans talked fondly of the initially time they'd ever met him. Ray spoke about writing what you know and not letting rejection make you stop. He spoke about chasing your dreams and not letting life get you down. He was larger than life, and still is. He aged more than the years: going from a mature man at my graduation in his late fifties or early 60's to his 70's and then 80's.
1 of those times when he was in town and couldn't meet the store schedule, he invited me more than to his home to sign a couple of books. I regarded as this a genuine glimpse into the life of a living legend. His location was nice but not ostentatious. He had a housekeeper who opened the door. Inside there were a considerable amount of books on counter tops, night stands and the like. But it wasn't until he asked me to grab him something from the garage that I saw his actual treasure. Ray had been a book man all his life a lover of everything published - in particular science fiction, which he hoarded - and I feel he kept every item he ever bought stacked in this garage. There had been old Impressive Stories pulp magazines going back fifty years. There' had been books stacked greater than a man stands tall. One of them was even signed by some other luminary of sci-fi to ray himself. I had identified the dragon's treasure of science fiction fans. When I asked him about the plethora of books and urged him to let me sell them for him, he simply said, "Eric, I have grandchildren." My lunatic thoughts of six figure commissions had been dashed. But it also showed me that ray cared about household.
A further time, Ray Bradbury couldn't come do a signing given that he had limited time, so he provided to just drop by the shop and sign a couple of books for me. Unfortunately I wasn't going to be at the shop, or so I thought, when he was due. A friend of mine, Kevin Hooper, was working for me then and I explained to him the scenario and showed him what I wanted signed. Kevin did not believe that ray Bradbury was going to just show up and sign this big stack of books. Even though I was reiterating his duties whilst affirming Ray's intentions, Ray showed up. Kevin was in shock that he got to meet Ray Bradbury in individual and how good he was to sign a massive stack of books for no cost.
The last time I had Ray for a book signing was at the Palm Springs Villagefest. We'd scheduled it months in advance. All my regulars, who had grown in numbers, were looking forward to his arrival. But when the night came, the weather was awful. It was cold and rainy - a horrible night for an outdoor book event. Only a handful of vendors, out of the commonly hundreds, had been even going to set up: the hot dog guy was nearby and 1 or two other vendors way down the block. No one else was going to do small business on such a miserable night. I named my Dad and asked him to bring by our pop-up canopies reserved for swap meets and we promptly spread out in the street. We set up the books, which was a tremendous sprawling mess of tables covered with literally thousands of Ray Bradbury classics. Ray showed up driven by his typical driver and without having hesitation asked, "Exactly where do you want me?" and then immediately planted himself below the canopies outside, inches from the falling rain.
Compared to a normal event at the street fair, few consumers showed up, but for those who did, they had been pleasantly surprised to come across a literary Science fiction giant sitting outside below tarps signing books and regaling the crowd with his great humor and presence. Ray mentioned the cold, so I bought a heater and we ran the extension cord by means of the rain. Thankfully Mother Nature was gentle on it and the device warmed up my aged friend with no incident. He got hungry and we sent for food but he declined the milk shake and instead asked for a glass of wine. "My wife doesn't commonly let me drink," he confided. I again sent a runner and this time came back with a toasted cheese sandwich and a massive soda cup with lid and straw. Apparently the restaurateur did not want to be identified sending an open glass of alcohol out onto the street. Ray was thrilled and became alot more and even more joyous with each and every refill.
Ray's nonetheless writing and signing books. He's in his nineties now and barely slowing down. As I got to know him over the years I surmised that he was a guy who got to reap the benefits of performing what he loved for a living for a long long time. God really like him.
Eventually I sold the shop and the ladies who purchased it closed it down soon after a couple of difficult years. My buddies reverently believe of Ray Bradbury when they mention the 'good old days' of the bookstore. I haven't observed Ray in 5 or seven years now and last I did it was at the exact same book fair at UCLA exactly where I first got his telephone number. He remembered me and we talked briefly. He was congenial, gracious and authentic as at all times. I thanked him for a few a great deal more autographs and released him to the blockbuster crowd in line behind me.
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