Rest in peace, Ray Bradbury; we'll keep on reading books

Author Ray Bradbury died today in Los Angeles at age 91. And he would have hated this blog post,¹ a modest celebration of some of his vintage paperback covers.

Here are Bradbury's in-depth obituaries from The New York Times and The Associated Press. 

But let Bradbury himself have the final word:

"As for my gravestone? I would like to borrow that great barber-pole from out front of the town shoppe, and have it run at midnight if you happened to drop by my mound to say hello. And there the old barber-pole would be, lit, its bright ribbons twining up out of mystery, turning, and twining away up into further mysteries, forever. And if you come to visit, leave an apple for the ghosts."

Footnote
1. Victoria Bekiempis of Village Voice explains it all eloquently in "Ray Bradbury Would Have Hated Your Blog Post, Tweet, or Facebook Status About His Death (And This Too)." He was not a fan of computer technology, hated e-books or was not supportive of digital versions of his works. And that, as Bekiempis writes "brings up an important question: Should we electronically express condolences for someone who disliked all things electronic?" She comes up with an acceptable answer in my, err, book.