In an age of Kindle-able books, Ray Bradbury tells Yahoo to go to hell

I never tire of listening to Ray Bradbury talk about his love for and the importance of books, reading and libraries. Approaching age 90, the timeless guy of Sci-Fi has a raging fire of passion inside him that will probably never be extinguished. The latest example is from an interview between Bradbury and artist Michael O’Kelly that was just published in California's Ventura County Reporter. Here’s an excerpt:

Michael O’Kelly: Today, in the schools, the English literature departments are encouraging children and teenagers to spend more and more time using the computer, and it seems to be a bit of a battle between using computers and reading books. How do we encourage kids and why is it so important for kids to be reading books instead of reading on a string?

Ray Bradbury: My answer to that is, Yahoo called me a few months ago and they wanted to put my books on the Internet, and I said, “Yahoo, listen to this, to hell with you! Go away! To hell with you! I believe in books!” So parents should say to the teachers, “Forget computers.” Put a book in their hands, it’s important; and they can carry it with them anywhere.

Ray Bradbury will kick off the H. P. Wright Library author series in Ventura, CA, on Saturday, June 20, 2009.

Ventura artist Michael O’Kelly is owner of California Pottery and Tile Works in Los Angeles and director of the Ray Bradbury Theater and Film Foundation.

Addendum: The June 20, 2009, issue of The New York Times has an article titled “A Literary Legend Fights for a Library,” which describes Ray Bradbury’s effort to raise money for the Ventura County public library system.