On August 22nd the Waukegan Public Library in Waukegan, Illinois, unveiled a 12-foot statue of Ray Bradbury on what would have been the late author’s 99th birthday. The stainless steel sculpture, titled “Fantastical Traveler,” features Bradbury riding a rocket ship while holding onto a book and was inspired, said its creator, Zachary Oxman, by Bradbury’s poem, “If Only We Had Taller Been.”

Bradbury, best known for his novels, The Martian Chronicles and Fahrenheit 451, was born in Waukegan, a Chicago suburb, on August 22, 1920 and lived there until he was thirteen.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the $125,000 cost of the statue was financed through donations. Those who gave at least $150 received a book from Bradbury’s personal book collection, which had been donated to the library upon his death.