Planetary Society Will Present Giant Birthday Card to Ray Bradbury

The Planetary Society will present a giant birthday card to Ray Bradbury, a member of our Advisory Council, at Los Angeles City Hall on Friday, August 20, 2010. Bradbury will turn 90 years old on August 22, and the Council will consider a resolution proclaiming August 22 to 28 Ray Bradbury Week. Louis Friedman, Executive Director of The Planetary Society, will speak on behalf of the resolutions. A private reception honoring Bradbury will follow the council meeting.

The Planetary Society collected birthday greetings for the card from well-wishers around the world. Over 1600 people shared how much Bradbury's stories novels, and plays have meant to them through the years. Fans spanned the generations from children to octogenarians, with sometimes all three generations of fans in a single family.

"Mr. Bradbury, I am 11 years old. I love your books. After reading them, I dream of things I never dreamed of before."

Greetings came from France and Denmark, Russia and Australia, and the rural heartland of America. Most were written in English, but a few arrived in Spanish or French or German.

"Happy birthday! I grew up reading, re-reading, chasing down, begging for and treasuring your books... For me, as for many of my friends, Mars in literature equals Ray Bradbury. Very best wishes from Russia!"

Space scientists and engineers thanked Bradbury for careers sparked by "The Martian Chronicles" or "R is for Rocket."

"You are the reason I am working for NASA today, searching for planets beyond our solar system. Happy Birthday, Mr. Bradbury. I, for one, am very glad you were born."

All share an appreciation of the wonder Bradbury instills in his readers.

"You have helped me to look up, and out, and inside in ways no other author ever has. Thanks for the Martians, and the dandelions, and the dark paths home, and the fortune teller, the butterfly under the shoe. Thanks for enriching my life."

Bradbury's extraordinary body of work includes The Martian Chronicles, Fahrenheit 451 and a vast collection of stories, poems and plays. His famous collection of stories, The Martian Chronicles, traveled to the planet Mars aboard the Phoenix lander as part of a mini DVD created by the Planetary Society, entitled "Visions of Mars."

"Ray! Your love for life and for your artistry is infectious. In fact, you infected me 34 years ago, and I've no hope for recovery or a cure."

The Los Angeles City Council meeting will take place at 10:00 am on Friday, August 20 at the City Council Chambers, City Hall, 200 N. Spring Street, Los Angeles.