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How to Find the Love of Your Life in a Bookstore: The Ray Bradbury Method
If you want to fall in love with a reader, go where the readers go. The late Ray Bradbury met his future wife, Marguerite McClure, at Fowler's Bookstore in Los Angeles when he was 22 years old.
"He carried a briefcase and wore a trench coat on a clear day, so I was immediately suspicious," she remembered later. "I expected him to slam his briefcase down on a pile of books and make off with a few. Instead, he told me he was a writer and invited me to have a cup of coffee with him."
She said yes, perhaps smitten with Bradbury's line: "I'm going to the moon someday. Wanna come?" As readers around the world know, the young writer wasn't exactly lying. During his influential and award-winning career, the author of Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles took readers to other planets, other dimensions, and other times.
McClure was the first woman Bradbury ever dated—and the last. They were married in 1947 and remained married for fifty-six years until McClure's death in 2003.
So what's the lesson from Bradbury and McClure's romance? Are we suggesting that single book lovers should browse their local libraries and bookstores, acting like a shoplifter? Probably not. (But if you do, please write and let us know how that goes.)
Instead, maybe we'll take away the simple truth that a type of magic can exist wherever books and readers gather.
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Discover more of Ray Bradbury's books and quotes here. And share your thoughts on Bradbury, meeting soulmates in bookstores, or both in the comments!
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(Top image credit: A 1976 edition of Fahrenheit 451)
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Ave wrote: "I would much rather have a guy come up to me in a book store and offer to buy me a book instead of going to a bar offering to buy me a drink. Plus with the prices of some drinks it's probably cheap..."Agree.☺😍
Chris wrote: "My array of Shakespeare-themed shirts make up for my lack of six-pack abs.I also have a Fahrenheit 451 shirt."
Of course, shared interests are essential, but one cannot expect identical tastes.
My husband and I met while working in the mall together, but a book line did help cement our relationship; he had invited me to dinner, and was around the corner fetching the next dish when he said, "voices, voices, he heard voices." I responded, "Oh, Journey to the Center of the Earth!" His face, when he turned towards me, was priceless - I'd just read that book a month before, and he was surprised I'd done so! We've been happily married 22 years now, and still going strong! :) Readers are indeed the best mates...
A touching story Emily. I hope you light a candle for Jules Verne on his birthday.
Mark wrote: "A touching story Emily. I hope you light a candle for Jules Verne on his birthday."a lovely thought mark!
What great advice! I can't believe I've never thought of this before.... Maybe I'll start visiting the Library more often ;) (and stop ordering all of my books online)
I understand that love may be found online, but it is not guaranteed.
Silence? What, nothing further to report???
Thanks for the story!"
Haha, some of us have to settle for finding someone who can read