About the Author
Ray Bradbury
Raymond Douglas Bradbury was born on August 22, 1920, in the small town of Waukegan, Illinois (north of Chicago) to parents Leonard Spaulding Bradbury and Esther Marie Moberg Bradbury.
Born and raised at a time when the Great Depression had a stranglehold on the country; the Bradbury family moved from coast to coast—Illinois to Arizona to Hollywood. Though his family was transient, it was full of fun, love, and a zest for life; and as such, Bradbury never lost his simple Midwest roots, as illustrated in many of his stories as he returns time and again to simpler times in Illinois.
Between 1926 and 1933, the Bradbury family moved back and forth between Waukegan and Tucson, Arizona. As a young child, he was exposed to horror movies of the period, such as The Phantom of the Opera and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Reminiscent of Montag in Fahrenheit 451, the heroes of these stories were social outcasts. Many of the themes found in Fahrenheit 451 are related to Bradbury's early exposure to books by an aunt and his regular trips to the Waukegan Public Library with his brother. In 1931, young Bradbury began collecting and writing his own stories on butcher paper.
By 1934, the Bradbury’s moved to Los Angeles, California. As a teenager, Bradbury often roller-skated through Hollywood. He befriended other talent and creative people like special effects maestro Ray Harryhausen and radio star George Burns. In fact, it was Burns who gave Bradbury his first pay as a writer— for contributing a joke to the Burns & Allen Show.
While attending Los Angeles High School, Bradbury was active in the drama club, the poetry club, and planned to become an actor. As his high school years progressed, Bradbury, now 15, grew more intent on becoming a writer. While browsing at a secondhand bookstore, he discovered a handbill promoting meetings of the "Los Angeles Science Fiction Society." Thrilled, he joined the weekly Thursday-night conclave that attracted science-fiction legends Robert A. Heinlein, Leigh Brackett, and future Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.
Though Bradbury's formal education ended with his high school graduation in 1938, he continued to educate himself. Later that year, Bradbury published his first short story, "Hollerbochen's Dilemma." From 1938 to 1943, he lived a dual life, almost like a character in his stories—selling newspapers on Los Angeles street corners all day and spending his nights in the library. Any free time between the library and working was spent at his typewriter. He began publishing his work in pulp magazines like Weird Tales and Amazing Stories.
He became a full-time writer in 1943, and contributed numerous short stories to various periodicals. In 1946, he met his future wife, Marguerite Susan "Maggie" McClure. A graduate of George Washington High School (1941) and UCLA, McClure was working as a clerk in a book shop when they met. They were married in the Church of the Good Shepherd Episcopal in Los Angeles on September 27, 1947. Later that year, he published his first collection of short stories, Dark Carnival.
By 1949, the first of the Bradbury’s four daughters, Susan, was born. Shortly thereafter, they welcomed three more daughters: Ramona, Bettina, and Alexandra, born in 1951, 1955, and 1958, respectively.
Although The Martian Chronicles was published in 1950, today it is still considered the definitive science fiction title. While it is a collection of related stories set on the planet Mars, critics often choose to discuss the work as a novel. Other collected stories by Bradbury that have received critical attention are The Illustrated Man (1951), and I Sing the Body Electric! (1969). Bradbury's novels include Fahrenheit 451 (1953), Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962), Dandelion Wine (1957), and its sequel Farewell Summer (2006). Some of Bradbury's stories have been televised on shows The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and Ray Bradbury Theater.
Today, Bradbury lives in Los Angeles, California. After the passing of his wife in 2003, many believed that Bradbury would quietly live out the rest of his days. However, this is not the case! Despite being 87 years old, Bradbury still writes daily and occasionally lectures. At an age when many men would just revel in their past glories, Bradbury remains a dynamic storyteller and sci-fi visionary. .
The sheer volume of Bradbury’s science fiction writing guarantees his importance in this genre. Among his numerous literary awards are the O. Henry Prize in 1947 and 1948, and a PEN Body of Work Award in 1985. He has also received a medal for "Distinguished Contribution to American Letters," from the National Book Foundation in 2000, a National Medal of the Arts in 2004, as well as a special citation for Distinguished Career from the Pulitzer Board in 2007.
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