Photo by Alan Light, 1975.

Ray Bradbury, author of The Martian Chronicles, Fahrenheit 451 and numerous short stories, is widely regarded as one of the 20th century’s most important writers. As his 90th birthday approaches later this month, Bradbury reflects back on his life, work and the gift that allows him to conjure “the monsters and angels” of creativity, in an interview with CNN.com. Of his talent he says, “It’s a God-given thing, and I’m so grateful, so, so grateful. The best description of my career as a writer is, ‘At play in the fields of the Lord.’ ” Fellow writer and friend Sam Weller has recently published a collection of interviews, Listen to the Echoes: The Ray Bradbury Interviews (Stop Smiling Books, 336pgs), that focuses a whole chapter on the author’s faith. A self described, “delicatessen religionist”, Bradbury doesn’t adhere to one singular religion, but draws inspiration from both Western and Eastern faiths. The foundation of his belief in a higher-power has always been love. “…I love all people. I love the world. I love creating. …Everything in our life should be based on love.”
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By Herman Wouk
Little, Brown and Company | 192pgs
Release Date: April 5, 2010

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Herman Wouk endeavors to integrate the disciplines of faith and science in his latest book The Language God Talks: On Science and Religion. Reflecting on his own experiences, fictional writings and friendships with scientific luminaries during his 94 years of life, Wouk theorizes how religion and science can work together to answer life’s major questions about the purpose of humanity and the value of belief in a higher power. During his research into the history of the atomic bomb for the books The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, the author became acquainted with many leading scientists, including Steven Weinberg, Murray Gell-Mann, and Freeman Dyson. But, it was his friendship with Nobel laureate Richard Feynman that inspired Wouk and helped to re-affirm his faith.
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