He wanted to make it to 100. He told me this many times. Alas, he took the rocket to Mars at the age of 91. I miss Ray Bradbury every single day. I work hard to introduce his legacy to a new generation of reluctant readers.

To help celebrate his birthday, today, August 22nd, I have been posting rare and unpublished ephemera from my personal files all day on my twitter feed.

And as another way to celebrate, here is actor James Urbaniak reading my short story, “The Girl in the Funeral Parlor,” from Shadow Show: All-New Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury. Ray enjoyed this story. I read it to him in his last months of life.

“By God,” he said. “You’ve written a Bradbury story!”

This tale will be included in my forthcoming collection of stories, Dark Black, out next May from Hat & Beard Press. Thank you James Urbaniak for the amazing reading!

Artwork for “The Girl in the Funeral Parlor,” from the Spanish edition of Shadow Show: All-New Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury by Barb Hernandez (Kelonia Editorial) — Artwork for “The Girl in the Funeral Parlor,” from the Spanish edition of *Shadow Show: All-New Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury* by Barb Hernandez (Kelonia Editorial)