Ray Bradbury was the first author that I was really exposed to back in grade school. I'm a big Philip K. Dick fan, but the emotion and humanity that Bradbury brings to his stories and the way he uses sci-fi to get at the human heart is something that's unique and for me incredibly influential.
I have become down-hearted, I have become discouraged, I have become depressed. I'm just like you. I'm a human being and I have my problems.