MEETING A LEGEND—K.T. Appleby, left, and her mother, Kathryn, both of Thousand Oaks, share a laugh with author Ray Bradbury during an autograph session and lecture. The speculative fiction writer visited the Grant Brimhall/Thousand Oaks Library last Thursday. JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers A full audience attended a recent talk by author Ray Bradbury at the Grant Brimhall/Thousand Oaks Library. Seated in a wheelchair, his shoulders hunched over, his head on his chest, his white shirt stained, the 88-year-old seemed decrepit and unaware.

But when Bradbury began speaking, his voice was as strong as a young man's, accentuated by a lifetime of experience, passion and conviction.

As he was wheeled into the room, the audience welcomed him by standing and singing "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow."

"I don't understand people who write bitterly about life," Bradbury said. "I love everything about it."

Bradbury has written short stories, plays, screenplays, television scripts, poetry and novels, including "Fahrenheit 451." His latest book, "We'll Always Have Paris," published in February, is a collection of 21 short stories and a poem.

The author, who's spoken often at the Thousand Oaks Library, donated the evening's proceeds to the library. His two daughters and six grandchildren live nearby.

A painting of Bradbury that will hang with a plaque in the library's periodicals section was unveiled. Created by Thousand Oaks artist/illustrator Carol Heyer, the artwork features a 3year-old Bradbury standing on Earth, holding the planet Mars as books and planets float in space behind him.

Bradbury said his family couldn't afford to send him to college after high school.

"That was good because colleges can't teach you anything. Libraries teach you," Bradbury said. "I started at the library at age 19, and I graduated from the library at 28. I read all the books, and it didn't cost a penny. Universities are too expensive."

Growing up, Bradbury read about the Nazis burning books in Berlin during World War II.

"I love books with all my heart, so it was only natural that in my 30s I wrote a book about the burning of books called 'Fahrenheit 451,'" Bradbury said.

He wrote that book in the UCLA library basement more than 50 years ago. With no money for an office, Bradbury rented a typewriter at UCLA for 10 cents per half-hour.

"I went to the bank, got a bag full of dimes. In nine days and nine hours I spent $19.80 in dimes and wrote 'Fahrenheit 451.'"

Bradbury said he aspired to be a writer from childhood, but it took time to realize his dream. At age 23 he went to see a psychiatrist in Los Angeles. The doctor asked Bradbury what was bothering him.

"I said, 'I want to be the greatest writer that ever lived,'" Bradbury said. "Can you imagine saying that?"

The doctor advised Bradbury to obtain an encyclopedia.

"He said, 'If you read it by the time you're 30, you will be somewhere. How long did it take Rudyard Kipling, Charles Dickens and Jules Verne?'"

Bradbury explained how love resulted in rewarding experiences, through chance meetings and by his own doing. He described sending his stories to people he admired, like radio host Norman Corwin and film director John Huston, with notes asking them to contact him if they loved his work as much as he loved theirs.

As a result, he went to Ireland to write the screenplay for Huston's 1956 film "Moby Dick." It was there that his love for theater developed and his playwriting followed.

Corwin encouraged the author to come to New York to sell his work. Bradbury had been writing short stories which he said no one was interested in. But a Doubleday editor named Walter Bradbury—no relation— encouraged him to do something with his Martian short stories.

The result was the publication of "The Martian Chronicles" in 1950 and "The Illustrated Man" in 1951.

"I sold two books in one day," Bradbury said.

But success eluded him as his books were neither promoted by booksellers nor reviewed in print until Bradbury met a critic in a bookstore and handed him a copy of "The Martian Chronicles." The resulting positive review finally brought Bradbury's work the attention he'd hoped for.

In his personal life, the author said, all of his loves were librarians, English teachers or booksellers.

"It makes for good pillow talk."

Bradbury offered the audience some advice.

"Don't do anything for money. That's the wrong reason," he said. "The simple rule in life to follow is love what you do and do what you love."

Several audience members, like Karma Christine Salvato and Carrie and Rob Glicksteen, all of Oak Park, had heard Bradbury speak multiple times.

"Ray Bradbury is a charmer," Carrie Glicksteen said. "He makes you fall in love with words, with stories and with him. He proclaims loudly his love for life and the people that have touched and inspired him. He is an inspiration to me and to those that listen."