For the love of writing

Young Chang

Someone was typing.

Ray Bradbury heard it while wandering around UCLA more than half a

century ago. He was 30 and couldn’t afford to own an office at the time,

which meant he didn’t have a place to type.

So when Bradbury heard the far-off interplay of fingers hitting keys

and the clang of a carriage jumping to new lines, the writer decided to

investigate.

He followed the sound into the basement of UCLA’s library. There, he

found a world of typewriters that would welcome him for 10 cents every

half hour. With a stack of dimes, he wrote in this underworld every day.

And after $9.80, Bradbury completed “Fahrenheit 451.’

“It was a great place to write a novel about book burning, in the

library basement,” said the Los Angeles resident, who will give a free

lecture at the Newport Beach Central Library Tuesday.

At 81, the award-winning author is still as malleable when it comes to

where he writes.

He’s not a literary giant who can only be literary in a certain room,

at a certain desk. He writes upstairs, downstairs, any time, anywhere, he

says.

And he’ll write whatever genre or story he pleases.

Bradbury, whose novel “From the Dust Returned: A Family Remembrance”

was published last month, looks forward to his play opening in Los

Angeles next week. Called “Falling Upward,” the author says this Irish

story is the best play he’s ever written. It makes him “incredibly

happy.”

He has a book of poetry hitting stores in a few weeks.

He has five motion pictures going into production.

While waiting for all this to happen, he is adapting one of his short

stories for television and writing a screenplay to his earlier work

“Frost and Fire.”

“I’ve been writing everyday since I was 12,” Bradbury said. “I don’t

intend to stop.”

He started writing poems and short stories as a child. He then wrote

outlines for comic strips because he loved comics. In his 20s, he tackled

more seriously the art of writing short stories. At age 30 he wrote the

novel “Fahrenheit 451.”

His famed titles include “The Martian Chronicles” and “Dandelion

Wine.” Much of his work explores the issue of technology and science in

relation to mankind and morality.

“Ray Bradbury has given us brilliant commentary on human capacities in

some of the most lyrical, sometimes disturbing fantasist literature of

our times,” said Patrick Bartolic, chair of the Board of Library

Trustees. “His sensitivity to social and moral possibilities have made

him unique as a writer of speculative fiction.”

But no, Bradbury doesn’t have a favorite among his 50-plus works. He

loves them all equally, the way he doles out love to all his children and

grandchildren.

He offers similar advice to writers: “Fall in love and stay in love.”

“If you love writing, be a writer. If you want to write poetry, write

poetry. But you’ve got to be in love with it,” Bradbury said. “Be

passionate about it and do it every day of your life.”

FYI

WHAT: Ray Bradbury lectures

WHEN: 7 p.m. Tuesday

WHERE: Newport Beach Central Library’s Friends Meeting Room, 1000

Avocado Ave., Newport Beach

COST: Free

CALL: (949) 717-3800