Destroying Literary Shrines Should Be Illegal Everywhere!!!

At age ten I was deeply impressed when my grandmother and mother took my sisters and me to see Louisa May Alcott's home in Concord, Massachusetts, where the immortal Little Women took place. Nine years later I returned with friends.

When I was nineteen, my mom, sister, and I visited the boyhood neighborhood of Mark Twain in Hannibal, Missouri and Mom stood with tears in her eyes to think she was next to Tom Sawyer's home and fence.

Since then I have visited a number of other historic sites including the beautifully-preserved homes of Edgar Allan Poe in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Thomas Wolfe in Asheville, North Carolina.

After many years of trying I was able to visit my favorite author, Ray Bradbury, in his home in Los Angeles, California, an experience I will always cherish. In a day which will live in infamy in literary history, that historic home, where Ray lived for over 50 years and wrote many of his immortal works, is being demolished so some sad, tired, tacky people with no sense of history or even common courtesy can have a fancier house they could have built anywhere.

"I stood in front of the house which loomed above me like a sort of memorial.... The bulldozers flung themselves upon the walls and gnawed at them and I saw them collapse in a cloud of dust and with them all the things that were mine and as I rushed forward it seemed to me that my own foundations were giving way too and I wouldn't any longer know who I was or what I had been."

Clare Mayfield, aged 14, main character of The House in Norham Gardens by Penelope Lively.

RIP 1937 – 2015

Sorry I couldn't come up with a quote of Ray's to express what I am feeling as well as this does!

Pictures I try to post in this forum never show up, but some can be viewed here: raybradburyboard.com...

Why would I care if Michelangelo's house was bulldozed?
Now if his work was in danger, well thats different.
I get how certain places should be protected like cival war battlefields but I don't get the significance of a house.

originally posted by: Hoosierdaddy71I don't get the significance of a house.

How much time do you spend at home?

When these works were created, authors especially, would have been in their house I'd say the majority of the time. Where you live, your home, not just your environs is part of the creative process. We decorate our homes to suit us and they reflect who we are.

I'm curious to see who people are, especially those who have produced works that I respect. Just like people want the inside view of celebrity homes these days, I guess. I'm more interested in preserving history, personally.

I get your point of view because we are so much more detached from 'hearth and home' now, in general.

a reply to: CoriSCapnSkip

I get irritated by the destruction of any beautiful historical homes. I don't understand the thought process behind it.

I have met two kinds of wealthy people. There are those who will buy historical properties, refinish them and make the homes represent their original beauty and protect the history by maintaining them. Then there are those who buy properties and bulldoze them for some bull# real estate project.

I hate the latter.

While I don't really differentiate between a historical house that had an author or one that didn't...it irks me the same I suppose.

A beautiful house next door to where I live was bulldozed and replaced by a parking lot that is only used for a few hours a day.

It had beautiful woodwork that you can tell someone spent many hours on.

a reply to: CoriSCapnSkip

I am quite lucky. Within half an hour drive from my home town i have the homes of where the following writers lived:-

William Shakespeare

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

J.R.R. Tolkien

Lee Child ( Author of the Jack Reacher novels )

The Reverend Wilbert Vere Awdry ( Thomas The Tank Engine books )

Barbara Cartland

John Wyndham ( Day Of The Triffids, The Midwich Cuckoos ( aka Village Of The Dammed) etc

W. H. Auden

The first ever public reading of " A Christmas Carol " was read by Charles Dickens himself at our local Town Hall in 1853

The American author Washington Irving wrote " Rip Van Winkle " in my home town

a reply to: alldaylong

Wow, I wanna visit your town! My uncle was a very famous Canadian Shakespeare scholar and a professor who taught for a time at Cambridge.

A tribute here: briansibleysblog.blogspot.co.uk...

More here. Read it and weep: file770.com...

Please note from this that Pickfair was demolished by the likes of Pia Zadora! Pickfair was built by Douglas Fairbanks, from whom Ray received his middle name.

Link to the Facebook page of the jerk--er, famous architect--who tore down Ray Bradbury's house so some illiterate idiots could build a stupid crummy McMansion! www.facebook.com... Here is his company's website. morphopedia.com... Please take a moment to let him know what you think of him!

Attention, everybody! The house where Ray Bradbury lived when he wrote Fahrenheit 451 is still standing! Here is the public record on it: www.trulia.com...
Can we PLEASE enact a blue plaque policy in this country and slap one on this place ASAP? Thanks!

Link to the newspaper article which has drawn many responses: www.latimes.com...

Okay...apparently this pathetic piece of sorry subhuman sludge is semi-articulate enough to dredge up some pitiful excuse for its slimy self. I am too ill to read it now, having lost hours of sleep over this for days, but will probably look later. If anyone else is interested here it is. www.mhpbooks.com...

OMG...IT has an Internet Movie Database page, too! With no messages on its discussion board, of course! Off to break it in!

www.imdb.com...

"Without Ray Bradbury, there would be no Stephen King," said one of the most successful authors ever! I shared the Los Angeles Times article about the wicked and wanton destruction of Ray Bradbury's house on King's Facebook page and Internet Movie Database page and tried to share it on his message board, but the moderator deleted it, as, although I did mention enjoying King's work and viewing his house (from a distance, standing on the public sidewalk), most of the post was about other authors' houses. Then I took a nap as I've been up till at least 1:00 every night for the last six nights and till 4:00 the last two nights since learning the villain's identity. While asleep, I dreamed I bet the message board moderator that if they showed the news article to Stephen King, and King said it was NOT important, he was welcome to come to my house PERSONALLY and chop off my pinky finger! (A reference to King's short story, "Quitters, Inc."--charming!) Anyhow, I hope someone does bring the item to King's attention!

Regarding that last message, sorry, my mistake. The Stephen King Message Board moderator deleted only one post, not the thread.

Message board threads, started by me, or started by others to which I replied:

raybradburyboard.com...

forums.abebooks.com...

twilightzonewor.fr.yuku.com...

stephenking.com.../r-i-p-ray-bradburys-house-literary-shrines-should-be-protected.5558/

thekennedys.conforums3.com...

waltonswebpage.proboards.com...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

www.paranormalsoup.com...

Internet Movie Database Subject Page Message Boards:
(Where I started more than one thread or replied to someone else’s, both are listed.)

Ray Bradbury

The Ray Bradbury Theater (1985)

Fahrenheit 451 (1966)

Forrest J Ackerman (Ray’s Lifetime Best Friend)

Ray Harryhausen (Ray’s Friend and Best Man at his wedding.)

William F. Nolan (Longtime Dear Friend, Collector, Chronicler)

George Clayton Johnson (Longtime Friend)

Stephen King (I) "Without Ray Bradbury, there would be no Stephen King." Read on!

Thom Mayne (individual responsible for this outrage)
Destroying Literary Shrines Should Be Illegal Everywhere!!!
Disrespectful Destructive Illiterate Idiot Imbecile Putrid Pathetic POS!

Internet Movie Database General Message Boards:

Books
Destroying Literary Shrines Should Be Illegal Everywhere!!!
Re: This is quite sad (farewell to the home of an icon)

Science Fiction

Horror

Fantasy

Classic Film

Screenwriters

TV General

Classic TV

Classic TV: The 80s

Classic TV: The 90s

Cult TV Destroying Literary Shrines Should Be Illegal Everywhere! (Ray Bradbury)

Film, TV, Celebrity News

Facebook Pages:

My Own Timeline

Center for Ray Bradbury Studies

The Los Angeles Conservancy

Stephen King

Neil Gaiman

Thom Mayne

Shares to other Facebook pages: too numerous to mention but many of you know who you are.

Individual emails as well as forms to news agencies and historical groups: over a dozen and counting!

Posting this as many places as possible. We must do our duty!

News of the destruction of the Cheviot Hills area Los Angeles home in which internationally famous author Ray Bradbury lived and worked for over 50 years has appeared in Russia and Germany, but in the U. S. seems to have been covered only in local newspaper articles! Below are links to the contact forms to submit stories to the major television news agencies in the U. S. and U. K. As many people as possible should inform them of the story and resulting fallout! Thanks for your participation!

Here is a link to a Los Angeles Times article giving details: www.latimes.com...

ABC: abcnews.go.com... nts

CBS: audienceservices.cbs.com...

NBC: To report an error or comment on NBCNews.com or an NBC News program, please email [email protected]

BBC: www.bbc.com.../news/107254 15

Another good source is the NPR radio program This American Life, which features many human interest stories and can be emailed at [email protected]

If it was so important to save this structure why didn't the city/township landmark it at any point after Bradbury's death with the assistance of the Bradbury Foundation?

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Below is a link to a radio broadcast including interviews with the perpetrators, the Director of the Center for Ray Bradbury Studies, and someone from the Los Angeles historic preservation group. I still haven't found the heart or strength to listen but apparently it includes interesting details about what would have had to happen to save the structure. www.kcrw.com...

a reply to: CoriSCapnSkip

I know exactly what needs to be done to get a structure landmarked, I did my own home.

The process is not difficult, however it does require patience as you are dealing with government.

The drawback is it limits the number of buyers who may be interested in your home as the landmark status prevents all exterior work without approval from one of the local governing bodies; Historic Preservation Commission, Town Council, etc.

From what I read in the previous links the Bradbury Society and the Bradbury heirs, who the onus was on, had no interest in landmarking this structure as they wanted to sell it.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

This definitely unintended consequence obviously ultimately points back to the heirs but it seems both they and the Society displayed an appalling lack of foresight which still gives me nightmares!

originally posted by: CoriSCapnSkip
This definitely unintended consequence obviously ultimately points back to the heirs but it seems both they and the Society displayed an appalling lack of foresight which still gives me nightmares!

Perhaps a positive will come out of the situation. Remember that the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission founding was spurred by the foolish decision to demolish Pennsylvania Station.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: CoriSCapnSkip
This definitely unintended consequence obviously ultimately points back to the heirs but it seems both they and the Society displayed an appalling lack of foresight which still gives me nightmares!

Perhaps a positive will come out of the situation. Remember that the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission founding was spurred by the foolish decision to demolish Pennsylvania Station.

Actually the decision to demolish so quickly (two years before any construction was planned) was attributed to a law which took effect in January making it illegal to demolish any structure older than 45 years without consulting the city. The new owner saw trouble coming so acted with as much haste as possible.