Strike Up the Band

Mike Glyer watches Ray Bradbury autograph, on Opening Day of Monrovia Public Library 

All it took was a little flu (non-swine variety) to bring things to a halt here for a few days. I’m feeling much better, with prescriptions to settle those nagging symptoms.

Fortunately, I was well on Saturday (May 16), the day they officially opened the new Monrovia Public Library. Now my home town has a beautiful facility filled with books, ambitiously designed to serve people’s needs for all media, including a new flock of computers and available wireless network. 

Ray Bradbury, the patron of libraries, was on hand to guarantee an auspicious beginning for the new community room. He held court for an hour, sharing anecdotes that explained what he loved about a lifetime spent as a writer. Ray spoke strong and clear. A librarian sitting in front of me listened raptly and held her copy of Farenheit 451 like scripture.

Large as it is, the room filled before I got there. So all thanks to John King Tarpinian, Bradbury’s interface with the library, who put in a good word and got me a seat. He also snapped the photo  of me watching Ray sign — patiently autographing book after book for probably a hundred people.

3 thoughts on “Strike Up the Band

  1. > A librarian sitting in front of me listened raptly and held her copy of
    > Farenheit 451 like scripture.

    If I were a librarian, I would, too.

    The popularity of this book among professionals continues unabated. My younger son Ryan, who’s fifteen, last month was assigned Farenheit 451 as part of his high-school freshman college-prep English literature course.

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