So Long, Ray Bradbury.

One of the most influential science fiction writers of the past three generations, has passed away. Ray Bradbury was 91 yrs.old and who died Tuesday night, was slowed down in recent years by a stroke and he’d required a wheelchair for mobility, but even with health issues, he continued turning out new novels, plays, screenplays and even a volume of poetry, according to the Miami Herald. The science fiction legend, who authored such classics as “Farenheit 451″ and The Martian Chronicles”,  had visions from his childhood dreams of iPods, interactive television, electronic surveillance and live, sensational media events, including televised police pursuits – and not necessarily as good things.

Bradbury’s writings ranged from humor to horror to mystery and even compassionate stories about the Irish, African-Americans, and Mexican-Americans. Years, after his stories had been told in books, in movie theatres, and on the television screen, the sheer volume volume and quality of his work would surprise even him. “I sometimes get up at night when I can’s sleep and walk down into my library and open one of my books and read a paragraph and say: ‘My God, did I write that? Because it’s still a surprise,” Bradbury said in 2000. He often stated that his career was inspired by a chance meeting in 1932 with a carnival magician called Mr. Electrico who, at the end of his performance, reached out to the captivated 12-year-old, tapped him with his sword and said, “Live forever!”

“I decided that was the greatest idea I had ever heard,” Bradbury said later. “I started writing everyday. I never stopped.”