Talk:Ray Bradbury

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[edit] Ray Bradbury's name

Also see earlier discussion on this topic in /Archive 1

"Ray Bradbury (his given name is not Raymond) was born in Waukegan, Illinois". His given name is also not "Michael" or "Joseph" or "Christine". The comments in brackets are useless. If it really is vital, include it in a trivia section or some such nonsense. Sontra 19:11, 12 September 2006 (UTC)

No, that's not useless. Most people called "Ray" have a full first name of "Raymond". Bradbury is an exception. Speaking of nonsense, who changed the article at 18:01, 11 September 2006 to say "Ray Bradbury (his given name is not Michael) was born in Waukegan, Illinois"? — Walloon 04:55, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

Actually, it IS useless. Unless Wikipedia is in the habit of repeating already stated information. If his name is given as "Ray Douglas Bradbury" it should be clear that his first name is Ray. Otherwise his name would be "Raymond Douglas Bradbury", no? Also, do you happen to know most people called "Ray"? Or are you just assuming that most people with the name of Ray are actually Raymond? And actually, I said it was useless. The nonsense was in relation to placing it elsewhere. I applaud your reading skills. And, as you so cleverly mention, I did indeed change the article. It made as much sense as the current revision. Sontra 19:32, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

No reponse? In that case, maybe remove the superfluous line. Sontra 23:22, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Needs fixing?

"For Bradbury, there is some blurring of categories, and the distinctions in his works of penis art. somewhat subjective, for he frequently has written stories about a set of balls or a subject,"

I think something needs to be fixed here? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.58.224.75 (talk • contribs) 20:38, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

Vandalism was reverted by Walloon on 13 September 2006. —Quicksilver

[edit] Permalink for Wikipedia research project

Hello, editors of Ray Bradbury! I am currently working on an essay on Wikipedia, part of which will feature a comparison of articles of Wikipedia and Encyclopaedia Brittanica. To ensure that I send reviewers articles that have not been recently vandalized or have not been involved in an edit war, I would like, by December 31st, a revision of this article to be listed at User:Ccool2ax/Research-permalinks that is not vandalized and/or is generally at peak quality. Thank you! Chrisisme 20:03, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

Why don't you pick one out yourself and put it there? LilDice 21:38, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Picture

Also see earlier discussion on this topic in /Archive 1

we need a better pic Jeffklib 04:17, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

It's not that it's a bad picture; it's just resized for some reason... it looks fine (although smaller) if you right-click on it and click "View Image." Zaita 03:00, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] More trivia

I seem to recall Ray Bradbury stating in an interview a few years ago that he didn't believe that the Earth had been visited by extraterrestrials. If someone could dig up a citatation where and when he said that, it might make an interesting addition to the article, especially in light of some of his writings, such as The Martian Chronicles. His fear of flying is a similar paradoxical aspect to his personality, having written so many stories involving spaceflight. —QuicksilverT @ 21:10, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

In the movie "Blade Runner" by Ridley Scott, Harrison Fords character exits his car in front of the "Bradbury Building". Robot designer J.F. Sebastian lives there. I know that the building is a well-known landmark not named after Ray Bradbury, but I wonder if it might be a subtle gesture anyway? — 80.136.210.78 00:45, 7 April 2007 (UTC)


 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
This article does not cite any references or sources. (February 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.
  • One well known irony is that Bradbury, despite writing about spaceships and interplanetary travel and having lived in Los Angeles for most of his life, has never driven a car. He attributes this to having seen a gruesome car accident when he was young.
  • Bradbury once had a well-publicized fear of flying, and did not fly in an airplane until the age of 62. Later, he flew on the Concorde to Paris, where he worked with the Walt Disney Company on the new Disneyland being created in France. He did enjoy a ride in the Goodyear Blimp when he was 48.
  • Bradbury has helped Disney with many projects over the years, including the futuristic park EPCOT, and was also inspired to become an advocate for the proposed Los Angeles monorail system after riding and enjoying the Disneyland monorail system.
  • At the age of fifteen, Bradbury read Jack Woodford's book on writing, Trial and Error, which had a large influence on his career. He attributes his lifelong daily writing habit to the day in 1932 when a carnival entertainer, Mr. Electrico, touched him with an electrified sword, made his hair stand on end, and shouted, "Live forever!" The following day, Mr. Electrico brought Bradbury behind the scenes of the carnival and discussed philosophy with him. Bradbury said Mr. Electrico told him that Bradbury was the reincarnation of Electrico's friend who was killed in the Battle of the Ardennes in 1918.
  • Bradbury appeared in the television game show, You Bet Your Life.
  • Bradbury usually gives an annual speech in Torrance, California for "Ray Bradbury Day" (April).
  • Bradbury St. in the Konami game Silent Hill is named in his honor.
  • According to Superman #411: The Last Earth-Prime History (1985), Superman loved Ray Bradbury's books since he was a boy.
  • In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Ménage à Troi", the ship that comes to take Wesley Crusher is named the USS Bradbury.
  • Bradbury once said in an interview that he does not like using computers when writing a book. He also dislikes the internet.
  • The Canadian thrash metal band Overthrow has a song "Infection", which is inspired by his story "Fever Dream".
  • The Canadian rock power trio Rush has a song called "The Body Electric" on their 1984 album Power Windows, based on Bradbury's story "I Sing the Body Electric"
  • In the upcoming motion picture Proving Ground: From the Adventures of Captain Redlocks (2008), the title character's starship is named I.D.S. Bradbury, reflecting writer/producer Kevin M. Kraft's great affection and admiration for Bradbury.
If someone wishes to integrate this back into the article with reliable sources, please go right ahead, but we trivia sections such as these are highly frowned upon and should not exist in an encyclopedia, period. Burntsauce 15:52, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] National Book Award

He also got some kind of lifetime achievement National Book Award, which fact should be included in this article. I don't know the proper way to say it. 18.252.5.164 01:58, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

I added this in and a link to his acceptance speech which is a good read. Smallpond 19:08, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Pulitzer Citation

This was added and then removed by an IP editor a few minutes ago: this link tells of a special citation that Bradbury got from the Pulitzer committee; might make the awards/honors section. I haven't added it because I'm not sure if the IP editor wants to stick it back in herself... Zimbardo Cookie Experiment 23:51, 16 April 2007 (UTC)

Looks like it was in there when I wrote this up. That's what I get for not looking carefully. Never mind. Zimbardo Cookie Experiment 23:52, 16 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Jack Woodford

I have removed this sentence from the article: "At the age of fifteen, Bradbury read Jack Woodford's book on writing, Trial and Error, which had a large influence on his career. "

I can find no mention of Woodford or his book in the authorized biography The Bradbury Chronicles, nor in Bradbury's books Zen in the Art of Writing, Conversations with Ray Bradbury, or Bradbury Speaks. — Walloon 17:15, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Micheal Moore

This is a response to this comment left in an edit summary: Shsilver (Talk | contribs) (Undid revision 136439766 by Getaway (talk) Since titles can't be copyrighted, this has nothing to do with the issue.) Actually copyright has everything to do with the issue. In the Wikipedia article there are references to words taken by Bradbury from other authors, such as Dickens, and used by Bradbury in his works. These examples of where, supposedly, Bradbury in taking the words of other writers and supposedly is the same process that Moore engaged in. The problem with that analogy is: (1) there is no citation for the commentary, and (2) the examples given are to authors who were originally published over 50 years ago. The words referred to are NOT, contrary to the claim of Shsilver, just titles but are wording, for example the wording of Macbeth, which was published, of course, about 400 hundred years ago. Moore stole Bradbury's title while the copyright is still in effect. Also, Shsilver's comment are just flat incorrect understanding of copyright law. Yes, you cannot get a copyright on a just a title, but you can get a copyright on title which is "a work must contain at least a certain minimum amount of authorship in the form of original literary, musical, pictorial, or graphic expression." 17 U.S. 102. Now, of course Bradbury's work contains the "original literary expression" required to obtain copyright and of course the work does have copyright protection.--Getaway 19:19, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

Wrong. Titles cannot be copyrighted (although they can be trademarked, which Fahrenheit 451 is not) and Moore played on the title of Bradbury's work, not the text of the book. The work itself is copyrighted, everything from "1. The Hearth and the Salamander" through "The flies came down in a feeding cloak to cover the meat, once it had stopped swinging." but not Fahrenheit 451. That is why you often find different books with the same title (for instance Taltos (1988) by Stephen Brust) and Taltos (1994) by Anne Rice). More specifically, "Copyright does not protect names, titles, slogans, or short phrases. In some cases, these things may be protected as trademarks. Contact the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, 800-786-9199, for further information. However, copyright protection may be available for logo artwork that contains sufficient authorship. In some circumstances, an artistic logo may also be protected as a trademark."(What Does Copyright Protect?, United States Copyright Office). I'm removing the reference to copyright since copyright, does not enter the matter legally, q.e.d.
Whether or not the item is has appropriate citation is another matter entirely.Shsilver 20:18, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] In which section should his book A Chapbook for Burnt-Out Priests, Rabbis and Ministers go?

A Chapbook for Burnt-Out Priests, Rabbis and Ministers (published by Cemetery Dance Publications in 2001 ISBN 1-58767-010-0). It is a collection of all new "poetry, fiction, essays, and other oddities and fancies" per the official website. Since it fits in multiple catagories, which one should it be listed in? Antmusic 18:15, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

The Library of Congress comes in on the side of the book being mostly fiction, specifically short stories. — Walloon 18:23, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] This page needs more discussion of his writing

The page launches right into discussion of his books being adapted but there is very little on his writing. Not a very helpful resource on the author.

Probably for two reasons. First, because each of his major works has its own Wikipedia article that can be clicked to. Second, because critical analysis inevitably goes into the area of personal opinion, which is frowned upon at Wikipedia. — Walloon 16:41, 7 November 2007 (UTC)
Oh, now I see what you mean. The entire sections on his Beginnings and his Works had been deleted. I have restored them. — Walloon 16:45, 9 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] List of works

Do you think that maybe the "Works" section is large enough to be broken off into its own article? I think it easily is. I also think that the two columned format looks squashed; in its own article, it could be spread out and not seem a problem. —ScouterSig 22:09, 16 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Fair use rationale for Image:Rb451.jpg

Image:Rb451.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot (talk) 03:51, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Rationale added to image article. Johnmc (talk) 03:37, 17 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Revert War

There appears to be a bit of revert war being wagged here. Bradbury is best known to the general public as a science fiction writer. We can understand that he doesn't like being pigeonholed, but that doesn't change the public perception. One can argue back and forth about the merits of his personal opinion, but that doesn't matter to this argument. Please leave it as is. David Reiss (talk) 16:01, 24 February 2008 (UTC)