My 8th Grade math teach read the Martian Chronicles to us (yes, I said math; long story). That was the start of my love of science fiction. Having moved on to other authors, it’s been decades since I read his work, but I still remember:
- the thrill of The Illustrated Man
- the tag line, “but when the jellyfish called you by name.”
- shivers while reading Something Wicked This Way Comes
- the doctor flashing the scalpel and saying, “Here baby, something shiny, something bright.”
- lost colonies on Mars and their terror at seeing the natives come out of the sand
- and crying for the little girl who didn’t get to to see the sun the day the rains stopped on Venus.
I guess you could say he was my “gateway drug” to science fiction. Once read, never forgotten.
Ray, you led us across the solar system, but also explored our hearts. God bless you.