Ray Bradbury Centennial post August 12, 2020

Daily Ray Bradbury Centennial post. My family returned to the Carlisle area in the summer of 1974. We had been here in ‘71-‘72 when my father attended the US Army War College. At first, before I came to know Bosler Memorial Library, I enjoyed using the Post Library above the PX. It was run by Terry Munson, who was a tough short no-nonsense white-haired woman with a soft spot for this boy who loved books. The Post Library had an exchange case where you could bring in books and trade them for library cast-offs or extras. At this time I had read Ray Bradbury only in school anthologies or sf/fantasy collections (I was 12). The Post Library exchange case supplied me with these five books, which I still have. One is stamped ”Courtesy of Post Library.” It was my Rocket Summer (the title of the first chapter of The Martian Chronicles). I discovered Ray Bradbury, and my life as a reader, as an aware human, was changed. I notice the prices of the books range from 95 cents to $1.50. They are priceless to me. They thrilled me, terrified me, dazzled me, made me laugh out loud, intoxicated me, and made me want to be a writer. I was a kid who worked hard on the farm we moved to, who explored every rock and tree on 60 acres, and who read every minute I could. Ray Bradbury was an essential part of a lifelong education. Rocket Summer.