THE LAUNCH OF "SEARCHING FOR RAY BRADBURY"

The launching of a book is not quite the same as the launching of a ship. 

Although there can be champagne, no one smashes the bottle against anything. Unless, of course, a fight breaks out.  At the launch of my new book, Searching for Ray Bradbury, there was neither champagne nor fights, and neither were missed. But there was birthday cake (and a really nice one in the shape of an open book -- see above)  as the day coincided with the anniversary my birth. And there was the welcoming atmosphere of a great independent bookshop; 

a gathering of old friends of the author’s and of the author’s subject; of new friends; of readers previously unknown to the author who he hopes become friends of his book.  There was a standing room only crowd, albeit not in a great hall, but in a room so infused with the particular calm excitement of books to be discovered that it felt like a great hall. There was a fine, dramatic reading of Ray Bradbury’s short story “The Pedestrian.” And there was the opportunity for me to speak of Ray and read some of what I wrote about him in my book.

The venue was the loft of Mystery & Imagination Bookshop in Glendale. 

The author awaits

Ray introduced me to Malcolm and Christine Bell’s fine establishment in 2002, 

Ray and me in 2002 on the day he introduced me to Mystery & Imagination Bookshop

and it was, in his late years, his favorite bookshop. 

I’ve recently written about this bookshop in a blog on the Huffington Post -- Ray Bradbury’s Favorite Bookshop -- that, I’m pleased to say has racked up, as of this writing, 523 Facebook LIKES and 165 Facebook SHARES.

The pleasure comes not just from finding readers for my words -- that always pleases a writer -- but because it points out people's interest in independent bookshops that continue to exist in an economy that is not all that conducive to their survival. However, if they can survive I believe independent, neighborhood bookshops can become the bookshops of the future, offering a personalized service, and a love and caring for books and book lovers that set them apart from both the digital sales and digital delivery of books, neither of which I am against, in fact I publish digitally and buy digitally. Let's face it, the digital is here to stay. But independent bookshops offer an alternative to a trade that neither the digital nor the big box, big corporate book stores can offer. They are now very much needed cultural institutions. With support from readers that appreciate one-on-one service and like minds to communicate with on not just the physical book but the art of writing within, independent bookshops will become in the future essential and honored cultural fixtures.

Besides, launching a book in a virtual world is just not the same.

So thank you Malcolm and Christine Bell. Thank you Dave Doody, my publisher, for hosting the event and being such a charming master of ceremonies. Thank you John King Tarpinian, friend of Mystery & Imagination, good friend of Ray and such a great help to him in his late years, for helping to organize the event. Thank you Silvia Mancini, also a friend of Mystery & Imagination, for making a lovely birthday cake. Thank you Walter Ritter of the Write Out Loud theater company for your reading of “The Pedestrian,” performing both the beauty of Ray’s language and the humor of his story.

And thank you to everyone that came to help Dave and I launch the book and to celebrate my birthday.  I would like to have put a group picture of all of you here - but no one took a photo of you all. I was planning but I forgot. Sorry.

But other pictures were taken, and here they are:

Dave Doody, Bluroof Press Publisher and our host and me

Dave welcomes everyone

Walter Ritter of Write Out Loud reading Ray Bradbury's "The Pedestrian"

I enjoy Walter's fine performance

A shot from the audience taken by my son-in-law, Rick Burdick III

I talk about the great illustration of Ray by Lou Romano that graces the cover of "Searching for Ray Bradbury"

I begin to read

And read I do

After the reading M&I co-ownner Christine Bell get silly

You can't hug Christine enough

Sillier still we be

The dedicatee of "Searching for Ray Bradbury," my best friend, Peter Lonsdale, with his best friend, Gabrielle Davis

With Robert Kerr a member of Ray theater company, and good friend to Ray

Good friend and one of my favorite people, Eric Norwitz

After the reading I speak with Bill Goodwin, fellow writer and good friend of Ray's, along with his good friend, Brenda Cox Giguere. Old friend from my animation days, Guy Vasilovich, a artist and director and author of children's books. Seated is fellow Bluroof author Mitch Scaff

With John King Tarpinian - such a good and helpful friend to Ray; such a good and helpful friend to Mystery & Imagination and to the authors that do events there

My daughter, Miranda, knowing what a Superman fan I am, surprised me with a special candle to blow out.
I did good, I didn't blow it -- or, of course I did

If you would like an autographed copy of Searching for Ray Bradbury just call Malcolm or Christine at 818-545-0121 to order a copy. Or go on the Mystery & Imagination Facebook page and leave them a message.  Or, of course, the book is available at Amazon.com.