“Fahrenheit 451” is a timeless classic. As described on its cover, it is a ‘terrifying tale of the rise and fall of man.’ The author of the novel, Ray Bradbury, allowed his good friend, Tom Quinn, to visit the Upper Perk High School last month to speak to 10th grade Humanities classes about the book, currently being read by the students.

Social Studies teacher Mr. Mike Ciancetta is friends with Tom Quinn. Due to his age, Ray Bradbury, himself, could not make the journey from West to East Coast, as Quinn did. However, Tom Quinn did his best to represent the ideas and views of Ray Bradbury, while expressing his own opinions as well.

“It was his poetry teachers that told him, ‘You’re a little bit different, you’re really a very good writer and that is where you should post your energies’,” said Quinn, “As much as he has influenced me, it was his teachers that helped influence him.”

“I first became interested (in literature) when I was a young boy,” said Quinn, “My family would take me to theaters and I fell in love with musical theater first, but as I got older, I got a stronger appreciation for the written word, as well as what is spoken.”

Tom Quinn is the artistic director of the Montgomery Theater in Souderton. He also helped found the theater, which is actually an old firehouse. A dramatization of Ray Bradbury’s book, “Fahrenheit 451” was presented at the theater. Ironic?

“When I talk about Fahrenheit 451, it’s not specifically about the book, I think it is really about the man who wrote the book, and the influence that he had on me and the influence that he has on others in his books, something that I mentioned in the classroom. The smallest thing that anyone of us can do or say to other people can change the course of their lives. ”

During his visit to Upper Perk High School, Quinn talked about “Fahrenheit 451” and its characters, as well as the messages that Ray Bradbury was trying to transmit to society as they read his various works.

One of Quinn’s stories was of the interesting way that he became acquainted with Ray Bradbury. He has been taking out the trash, when he found a bag full of paperbacks gathering dust in the dumpster. He reached into the bag and pulled out a book. The book happened to be “The Martian Chronicles” by Ray Bradbury. He tossed his new treasure into the trunk of his car and drove off. Later, while at his Beverly Hills waiter job, he came to the realization that he had been waiting on Ray Bradbury and not realized it.

He went over to his guest and told his story. Ray Bradbury was pleased and, after requesting that Quinn retrieve his novel from his car, added his signature to the paperback. They quickly became fast friends, realizing other odd coincidences, about their 21 year friendship (such as Quinn’s daughter being best friends with Ray Bradbury’s granddaughter). Before all of this, Tom Quinn had only known Ray Bradbury through his timeless works.

“A lot of people don’t realize that authors have taken painstaking hours, from every single preposition to every gerund, every past tense, future tense, to every single choice of words,” said Quinn, “It wasn’t just arbitrary. Every single word was carefully chosen, it is a very exact science.”

As well as a celebrated author, Ray Bradbury is a poet as well as a playwright, and participated in the drama club at Los Angeles High School. Even though Ray Bradbury only holds a formal high school education, he educated himself by surrounding himself with books from various libraries for hours and hours.

“I think of Ray Bradbury as the greatest science-fiction writer of all time, as well as a terrific storyteller, not just in his writing, but in life. He knows how to recognize a situation and relive it,” said Quinn, “What is really great about his looking in the future and modernism and looking off into years beyond us…He always puts a lot of nature into his stuff and color and the reality… His writing, to me, has great balance.”