Bradbury not well enough to go to ceremony

CHICAGO, April 27 (UPI) -- Famed novelist Ray Bradbury is unable to attend Columbia College's graduation ceremony in Chicago as planned due to health concerns, the college said.

Columbia spokeswoman Micki Leventhal told Chi-town Daily News.org that the 88-year-old science-fiction writer has, however, agreed to videotape a commencement speech to be played at one of the college's three graduation ceremonies next weekend.

Leventhal said Bradbury, an Illinois native, was scheduled to receive an honorary degree at the graduation, but isn't well enough to travel from his home in California for the ceremony.

Artist Alison Knowles, audio producer Thomas Misner and Japanese educator Kunihiko Ukifune are slated to speak at Columbia's graduation ceremony Saturday afternoon. Sunday morning's commencement exercises are to feature a speech by Carla Delfos, the director of an international arts education organization. Lee Eliot Berk, the former president of the Berklee College of Music, and choreographer Trisha Brown, are scheduled to speak at Sunday afternoon's event, Leventhal told the Daily News' Web site.