A Very Bradbury Birthday

Back in 2009, I reached peak geek when I attended San Diego Comic Con.

The convention was abuzz with Iron Man 2 rumors, David Tennant's final year as The Doctor, and diehard geeks being livid that Twilight had a presence at Comic Con. But by far the most dramatic part of those 3 days was Sci-Fi master Ray Bradbury.

And the invite to his 89th birthday party. 

Bradbury was a staple of Comic Con. He'd attended and talked at pretty much every SDCC since its inception. Sadly, this was one of his last years, as he passed away in 2012. 

I don’t recall how long we waited to see Bradbury, but I do remember being very close to the front row. Although the true highlight — even better than Bradbury talking about the Moon Landing and the importance of childhood education — was the crazy random happenstance of Bradbury passing us in the hallway after his panel.

Pretty certain we weren’t supposed to be in that back hallway. But we were, and so were only inches from the writing legend.

And to be honest even further … Bradbury invited the whole audience at his panel to his birthday party. But I still count that as a personal invite.