Today's mood

RIP Ray Harryhausen

You'll be missed.

Ray Bradbury

We lost one of the good ones today. Ray Bradbury passed away at the age of 91.

I became a fan of Ray's work relatively late in life - for some reason it never clicked with me when I was young. But once I was properly introduced to his work I became a fan for life. His stories could be nostalgic and sweet or dark and terrifying. His use of language was unparalleled, but I think what I came to respect most was that he never spoon-fed his readers. He trusted you to understand what the story was about (think of the horrifying revelation in "The Aqueduct," a story that actually made me screech).

It seems wrong that we should lose Bradbury in June. Autumn was his time. So I'll close with a quote from "The Lake," the story that made me fall in love with Bradbury.

It was September. In the last days when things are getting sad for no reason. The beach was so long and lonely with only about six people on it. The kids quit bouncing the ball because somehow the wind made them sad, too, whistling the way it did, and the kids sat down and felt autumn come along the endless shore.

All of the hot dog stands were boarded up with strips of golden planking, sealing in all the mustard, onion, meat odors of the long, joyful summer. One by one the places slammed their covers down, padlocked their doors, and the wind came and touched the sand, blowing away all of the million footprints of July and August. ... Sand blew up in curtains on the sidewalks, and the merry-go-round was hidden with canvas, all of the horses frozen in mid-air on their brass poles, showing teeth, galloping on. With only the wind for music, slipping through canvas.

Thanks for the stories, Ray.

Goodbye, Dennis Hopper

One of my favorite actors passed away today: Dennis Hopper. I always felt he never got quite the respect he deserved. Granted, he's often remembered for films when he was clearly under the influence, or when he was doing his best balls-out crazy stuff. But as these clips from Blue Velvet and True Romance show, he was more than capable of nuanced, affecting performances. And even if the movie was bad (coughWaterworldcough) he always brought the fun.

Hope he's sharing a Pabst Blue Ribbon with Saint Peter now.

Readerville closes its doors

The fine book-and-reading Web forum Readerville has closed its doors. My diminished amount of free time means I hadn't spent much time there in the last year or so, but the site was invaluable for the wonderful writers it introduced me to - so many books I never would have read had it not been for that site - and wonderful people I met.

Readerville will be missed.

Be seeing you, Number Six

Patrick McGoohan of the delightfully surreal TV show The Prisoner, has passed away. Obituary here.  

I remember watching The Prisoner when I was very young. I'm sure I didn't grasp 99% of what I was seeing (though I was terrified of Rover) but the show nevertheless made a big impression on me. (In my novels Ashes and Reckoning, I made The Prisoner's catchphrase "Be seeing  you" the farewell words used by two of my characters.)

Here's the opening sequence for The Prisoner. You're a free man now, Number 6.