Ode to Ray

Ray Bradbury 1975 (taken from Wikipedia)

Author Ray Bradbury died 2 years ago. I know. Morbid way to being a post, eh? Still, I loved him. I spent hours and hours during my awkward adolescence absorbed in his books. Even now he's still an inspiration to me with his encouraging quotes...

"You will have to write and put away or burn a lot of material before you are comfortable in this medium. You might as well start now and get the necessary work done. For I believe that eventually quantity will make for quality. How so? Quantity gives experience. From experience alone can quality come. All arts, big and small, are the elimination of waste motion in favor of the concise declaration. The artist learns what to leave out. His greatest art will often be what he does not say, what he leaves out, his ability to state simply with clear emotion, the way he wants to go. The artist must work so hard, so long, that a brain develops and lives, all of itself, in his fingers.”

He was a prolific writer, the author of over 50 books (such as Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles) and hundreds of short stories. He won a gazillion awards ranging from the Pulitzer Prize Special Citation to the National Medal of Arts. What inspired him to become so prolific? When he was 12 years old (in 1932), he met a carnival magician named Mr. Electrico. At the end of Electrico's performance, he reached out to Bradbury, touching him with his sword, and commanding, "Live forever!" Bradbury later said, "I decided that was the greatest idea I ever heard. I started writing every day. I never stopped."

With all that fame and glory and gumption, one would expect him to have lived in a mansion, right? Wrong. He lived in a modest 3 bedroom, 3 bath. And if anyone is interested in buying that home, here it is for sale. . .

Information and Photo taken from Redfin

10265 Cheviot Drive is perhaps Cheviot Hill's most important address. For more than half a century it was home to Ray Bradbury, one of the most celebrated, beloved authors of our time. This charming traditional features a grand living room with soaring vaulted ceilings, classic brick fireplace, large bay window allowing soft California light to flood in across original hardwood floors and custom built-ins; formal dining room for proper entertaining with detailed crown moldings, expertly crafted wainscoting and wood shuttered windows; 3 generously sized en-suite guest bedrooms; maid's quarters on the main floor; expansive grounds with a large front yard as well as backyard to retreat to the outdoors in a secluded environment and a surprisingly spacious basement where he chose to write daily. A beautiful property with an important cultural provenance, come see where so many great works of fiction were conceived. A tremendous opportunity to begin a new chapter in its storied history.