Ray Bradbury - Our Friend

Ray Bradbury was a friend of mine.  I'm not saying this figuratively, in that way, everyone was his friend, I mean this literally.  Our family was lucky enough to know him personally and we loved him.  He was a great ally to us, our belief systems and our Santa Barbara bookshop (The Earthling). 
As a child, I remember the white linen suits that he wore on hot summer days.  I remember thinking that I'd never seen such a well dressed man.  He almost glowed.  When he came to visit, he would drink a tumbler of scotch that my Dad would fetch from the bar across the street as he sat by the unlit fireplace signing hundreds of copies of his books.

When we were surrounded by both a Boarders and a Barns and Noble and the sad fate of the independent bookstore cast it's shadow over the Earthling, Ray made the trip up to Santa Barbara to try to breath some life back into our sales.  He held a marathon signing once, where the line stretched around the city block.  He didn't leave until the last person was greeted and even then he stayed to sign a few extras for us.  To me, he was like a jolly ghost, who would appear in our shop, making my parents happy, making sales go up and reinforcing the belief that independent bookstores were nurtured by and nurtured, independent minds like his.
My Mother wrote the following article for the Santa Barbara View upon hearing about Ray's death.  She sent it to me last night and it made me nostalgic.  I guess I had forgotten that "Fahrenheit 451" was the reason that she wanted to own a bookstore.  In a way, it seems that Ray was the reason that I was raised amung the canyons of bookshelves and surrounded by the smell of paper.  Ray was the reason that I was breast fed in a bookstore's receiving room and that I took my naps under the sale table.  He was the reason that when Salman Rushdie wrote the "Satanic Verses," that my Mother refused to take it off the shelf despite death threats.  Apparently, Ray was one of the reasons that my family was inspired to be so brave.  And for that, I cannot put into words how grateful I am to that man.

I hope his spirit is flying somewhere over the surface of Mars in a freshly pressed white linen suit, tumbler of scotch in one hand, typewriter in the other.  I sure will miss him here on Earth.
Memories of Ray Bradbury

by Penny & Terry Davies (my Mom and Dad)

Hearing about Ray Bradbury's death was certainly a shock. The Earthling Bookshop and we, Penny and Terry Davies, owed him a lot.  He came to our bookshop at least once a year between 1974 and 1998. He not only was our favorite, among all the authors we hosted, but he was a good friend and supporter of The Earthling.

When we opened a shop in San Luis Obispo, he said he and his driver would be happy to go up there for a signing. (Ray never drove himself anywhere, he was uncomfortable driving.  He always had his driver bring him up to Santa Barbara to see us, and to Barnaby Conrad's Writer's Conference). 

Penny told him that "Fahrenheit 451" was the book that inspired her to become a bookseller. He liked hearing that. He loved independent bookshops and did everything he could to support and advance them. We were amazed that he offered to drive from Venice, where he lived, to appear in our brand new satellite Earthling in San Luis Obispo. Four hours up and four hours back, and, as always, he filled the new store with thrilled fans.

Ray never just sat at a table to sign books. Invariably he gave a little talk first. The store was always packed when we announced his coming. He would relay the following story over and over again because he loved imitating John Huston:

John Huston: Ray, I want you to come to Ireland and write the screen play for "Moby Dick".

Ray: But John, I've never read "Moby Dick".

John Huston: Don't you think you'd better get a copy?

Ray went to Ireland, but didn't stay with Huston on the hill.  A couple of miles from Huston's mansion was  the village pub with accommodations upstairs. Ray stayed there where he mixed with the locals and drank plenty of the local booze. They amused him by telling stories of the Banshee who haunted the hills around the village. One night, he was walking back from the big house and heard the wails of the Banshee. He was laughing at himself, saying that he ran all the way back to the pub, all the while wondering if he had had too much Irish drink, or was there really "Something Wicked This Way Comes".

He always opened the SB Writer's Conference, advising perspective writers in very positive terms.  He told them about his comic book collection when he was a child. Ray looked back on his childhood and said those comic books opened his imagination for the books he would write when he was a man.

He lamented the fact that someone told him to destroy those 'useless' comic books, and he mistakenly took their advice.  His theme at the Writer's Conference was: "Everything is a Metaphor". At first, we were never sure what he meant, but by the time he was finished, we knew he was right.

After a signing one Sunday afternoon, we offered to take Ray to dinner down the street at his favorite Indian restaurant.   He, in turn invited all his entourage to come along. These were admirers that always came to see him when he came to the Earthling. Ray enjoyed himself enormously, eating huge amounts of very spicy Indian food. His face was very flushed and we asked him if he was worried about his blood pressure. "I've never had a sick day in my life", was his reply.  We thought he would live forever.

The Earthling closed both locations in 1998 and we moved to North Carolina in 2008. When Ray died this week, all the good memories of Ray in Santa Barbara came rushing back.

Ray Bradbury was not only a gifted writer, he was a kind, happy man who enjoyed his life enormously. Thanks for coming into our lives, Ray, and making it richer for having known you.

Penny and Terry Davies
(somewhere in politically disgusting North Carolina)

My Mom Reviews - "The Woman Behind The New Deal" by Kirstin Downey

Here is another review from my mother, the voracious reader. This one looks amazing.

The Woman Behind The New Deal By Kristin Downey
Reviewed by Penny Davies

When our book group selected, Kirstin Downey's "The Woman Behind the New Deal...The Life and Legacy of Frances Perkins," I was less than delighted. The quality paperback was 398 pages long, with pages and pages of bibliography and notes in the back. It appeared to be a gargantuan tome to a woman unknown to most of us. I had a vague idea of the reputation of Frances Perkins, Secretary of Labor, during FDR 's administration, but I really didn't know that she was also responsible for Social Security, Unemployment Insurance, Minimum Wage, the 40 hour week, etc. etc. This book tells the history of those times, through the life of Ms.Perkins. She was smart, intuitive, and knew how to get her way with FDR. She accomplished things that would be
impossible to legislate today.

It was an historic time between 1929 and 1949. With the depression underway, millions were out of work, and Frances Perkins, the first woman cabinet member, used her smarts to establish the New Deal. She started off as a social worker, married a man who was bipolar and lived in institutions for practically her entire married life. Her only daughter had serious psychological problems too. She had a close relationship with FDR, who she pushed and pulled to get her way. She always dressed in dowdy black in order to make the men in power picture her as "motherly". Because she was a woman, she was badgered, mistrusted, and generally resented by the men in Washington. But that didn't seem to bother her...she attained most of the legislation on her "list", (except for Universal Health Care). She cared about the downtrodden, the poor, the underpaid worker, immigrants, the unemployed, seniors, children... She cared at a time in our history when something tangible could actually be done to improve their lives.

This is an extremely fascinating picture of a determined, intelligent woman whose story is practically unknown. Her private life was a shambles, but she did so much for this country. We owe her for paving the way for subsequent women in government. She was loyal to President Roosevelt and worked with him and Harry Truman for twelve tumultuous years. This is definitely a good read, an excellent biography about an amazing woman. Frances Perkins, a remarkable life.

My Mom Reviews - "Blindness" by Jose Saramago

My parent's owned a bookshop for 24 years. It was a beautiful bookshop located in Santa Barbara (then expanding to San Luis Obispo). It was called The Earthling. The Earthling was one of the greatest independent bookshops in the United States standing strong next to icons like Powell's and Book Soup. It supported local authors, local publishers and never censored anything. It was a community in and of it self. We had an amazing staff, the first bookstore coffee shop and we entertained some of the world's most famous authors on a regular basis. But what made The Earthling so unique, was my mother. My mother is one of those people who can read a 600 page book in a single evening. She has a voracious appetite for literature as well as the knack to recommend just what you were looking for. If you say you liked one book, she will tell you what to read next. If you have no idea what you want, she'll have an answer for that too. She had a gift. She's like a book suggestion Santa.

Since my parents are now retired and my mother spends her days volunteering at charity book sales and working for her local library, I asked her to share some of her advice and recommendations with us. So with that, I would like to welcome you to the first installment of... "My Mom Reviews..." This week -

Blindness by Jose Saramago
Reviewed by Penny Davies

I just finished reading a masterpiece and I am still shaking. I didn't want to read 'Blindness' by Jose Saramago, but I admire the woman who recommended it for our book group and have never been disappointed with the books she selects.

Saramago won the Nobel Prize for Literature for his body of work right after 'Blindness' was released and is translated from the Portuguese.

The book takes place in an unnamed country, people go blind and are "put away" in an old asylum. One group who has had contact with each other, stays together in a ward of the asylum. However, one woman has retained her sight...and so begins the story.

It is depressing, it is shocking, it is maddening. But, I could not put it down. I read and read through the night, wondering, what would happen next. It is brilliantly written and I promise, if you read the entire book, you will not be sorry.

A movie was made of "Blindness", but I did not see it. I was told it wasn't good. The discussion at our book group was really interesting. It went on for two hours while people talked about how it would feel to go suddenly blind. You may be turned off by the subject, but you will be surprised how excellent this book is.

I give it five (of five) stars.

Thanks Mom.