Ray Bradbury: Loathes the internet, loves libraries
Iconic science fiction writer Ray Bradbury is still going strong. He writes for several hours a day, reads, mingles with visitors and still supports one of his biggest passions: Libraries. And given the recent economic meltdown, public libraries need all the help they can get. Because of high-unemployment and lower wages, libraries are seeing a bit of a comeback. But as local governments try to trim their budgets, libraries are usually the first to get the ax.
That’s where Ray Bradbury comes in.
According to the New York Times article A literary legend fights for a local library, Bradbury is still fighting to save the very institution he was raised on, even if he’s almost 90-years old.
“Libraries raised me,” Mr. Bradbury said. “I don’t believe in colleges and universities. I believe in libraries because most students don’t have any money. When I graduated from high school, it was during the Depression and we had no money. I couldn’t go to college, so I went to the library three days a week for 10 years.”
How true those words ring today. College students are still broke. And a lot of people still struggle to buy the basics, leaving nothing left over for books. Yet with falling property tax revenue as a result of the real estate market collapse, keeping the doors of local libraries open is becoming harder and harder.
Mr. Bradbury agreed to give a talk and present a screening of a film based on one of his short stories for a modes $25- per- head fee. It might not provide long term stability to the Ventura County Library, but it will at least raise some awareness.
Ray Bradbury hates the internet
As a science fiction writer, you’d think that Mr. Bradbury would appreciate new technology that allows people instant access to information with the push of a button. Don’t expect him to be starting a blog and setting up a Twitter account any time soon.
“Yahoo called me eight weeks ago,” he said, voice rising. “They wanted to put a book of mine on Yahoo! You know what I told them? ‘To hell with you. To hell with you and to hell with the Internet.’
“It’s distracting,” he continued. “It’s meaningless; it’s not real. It’s in the air somewhere.”
I guess it’s at least a little ironic that, given how much Mr. Bradbury hates the internet, I’m sure a lot of his books are sold via sites like Amazon. According to this Teleread post a few of his books are even available the the Kindle.
Some people are just too set in their ways to recognize that technology can be useful (although I do kinda agree the internet can be a waste of time). On the surface, I can understand how Mr. Bradbury feels. Yet when you think that technology like the internet is providing people with access to information and books like never before, I shake my head.
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