Courtesy of the Niagara Gazette
By Doug Smith
From time to time Polly pops some takeout or leftover into the oven and asks, “It’s not going to catch fire in there, is it?”
To which Doug will always reply, “Set it at 450. Paper catches fire at Fahrenheit 451.”
Everything Doug knows about the flashpoint of paper he learned from Ray Bradbury 60 years ago, when “Fahrenheit 451” described a society in which firemen torched books, lest they challenge authority. (Bradbury himself conceded the figure might be inexact.)
In its “happy ending,” small clutches of free-thinkers would gather to memorize books so as to retain their contents for future generations (sorry for the “spoiler,” but that was 1950.)
At the time, “451” was seen as rebuking Wisconsin senator Joe McCarthy and his House Un-American Activities Committee, hounding out perceived communists in the entertainment industry. Doug still believes that McCarthy’s fears were justified, even if his methods weren’t. Nonetheless, Doug loved “Fahrenheit 451,” even unknowing that eventually it would enhance his kitchen cred.
While many condemned its message, he couldn’t help noticing that no one went to jail for possessing F451, quite in contrast to conditions in the Soviet Union.
Later, a vulgar and unethical movie-maker appropriated its title, “Fahrenheit 9/11,” ridiculing President George W. Bush’s responses to the attacks of 2001. Bradbury’s protests fell on dumb ears.
As a boy Doug was hooked on Bradbury, much to his mother’s distress. Bradbury’s “Martian Chronicles” puzzled him, as it seemed to keep starting over. At the time, Martian life and/or colonization seemed plausible, and in “Chronicles,” an anthology that looked like a novel, Bradbury crafted varying perspectives, observations of human foibles, frailties and worse.
In one, a Martian coldly kills an Earthly visitor out of jealousy. In another, newly-arrived Earthlings seeking welcome are shuttled from one governmental agency to another.
And in “Way in the Middle of the Air,” African-Americans in the Deep South build their own rockets, a risky escape to a better world. For some reason, later editions of “Chronicles” omit this sad, brave, uplifting tale.
(In agenda-driven obituary, Associated Press completely mis-stated the format and themes of “Martian Chronicles.”)
Just a few years ago, Doug’s car radio picked up Dennis Miller interviewing Bradbury, live. Bradbury was stunningly quick-witted, as Miller rightfully fawned over him. Doug called our Joe to tune him in. He had not lost one degree, and probably did not until last week, when he lifted off at the age of 91. A poignant editorial cartoon depicted “Ray Bradbury Transiting Mars.”
While chock full of fears and anxieties, Bradbury’s works and his vision were mostly gentle, and his foresight 20-20, and at any temperature, he illuminated the imaginations of generations.
Come visit. Bring your “Illustrated Man.”
Polly and Doug
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