R.I.P. Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury, the beloved author of s.f. classics Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles, died in Los Angeles this morning. He was 91. Via io9.com, a statement from his grandson, Danny Karapetian:

"If I had to make any statement, it would be how much I love and miss him, and I look forward to hearing everyone's memories about him. He influenced so many artists, writers, teachers, scientists, and it's always really touching and comforting to hear their stories. Your stories. His legacy lives on in his monumental body of books, film, television and theater, but more importantly, in the minds and hearts of anyone who read him, because to read him was to know him. He was the biggest kid I know."

Here's a 2010 interview in which Bradbury declares that, "There is too much government today," and also calls for a dramatically expanded space program.

I've read too few Bradbury books, but for a long time I considered Fahrenheit 451 my favorite novel, for its quiet literary stylishness, its powerful anti-totalitarianism, its celebration of words and ideas—and its insistence that even under the grimmest conditions and strictest censorship, those ideas can be worth living for. The world is a better place because of Bradbury's life, and poorer now that he's gone. Rest in peace.

Reason on Ray Bradbury here.