June 6, 2012 - 20:25 AMT
Ray Bradbury’s grandson: world lost one of the best writers

Author of Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury’s grandson Danny Karapetian shared with io9 the following words about his grandfather's passing away:

“The world has lost one of the best writers it's ever known, and one of the dearest men to my heart.” If I had to make any statement, it would be how much I love and miss him, and I look forward to hearing everyone's memories about him. He influenced so many artists, writers, teachers, scientists, and it's always really touching and comforting to hear their stories. Your stories. His legacy lives on in his monumental body of books, film, television and theater, but more importantly, in the minds and hearts of anyone who read him, because to read him was to know him. He was the biggest kid I know."

Karapetian added:

“If you're looking for any single passage to remember him by, I just picked up my copy of The Illustrated Man, my favorite of his books. The introduction is entitled "Dancing, So As Not to Be Dead," and there are some great lines about death. My favorite:

"My tunes and numbers are here. They have filled my years, the years when I refused to die. And in order to do that I wrote, I wrote, I wrote, at noon or 3:00 A.M. So as not to be dead."