Awesome SciFi Writer

Awesome SciFi Writer

AUTHOR OF THE DAY: 

Ray Bradbury

Ray Douglas Bradbury was born on August 22, 1920 in Waukegan, Illinois. From an early age he had an interest adventure and fantasy fiction. He was a huge fan of L. Frank Baum, Jules Verne and Edgar Rice Burroughs. 

At the age of 12, Bradbury decided he would become a writer. After graduating high school, Bradbury was unable to attend college. He couldn’t afford college and made the proactive decision to visit libraries every week to educate himself. He confesses:

“Libraries raised me…I believe in libraries because most students don’t have any money. When I graduated from high school, it was during the Depression, and we had no money. I couldn’t go to college, so I went to the library three days a week for 10 years.”

In 1938, the year he graduated high school, Bradbury published his first short story in a fan magazine. The following year, Bradbury published four issues in Futuria Fantasia, his own magazine. Ironically, most of the literature in Futuria Fantasia was written by Bradbury. To disguise the fact that the magazine was run by a single person, he used several pen names. Reminiscing on his early work, he confesses with pride: 

“I was still years away from writing my first good short story…but I could see my future. I knew where I wanted to go.”

By 1943, Bradbury had become a full-time writer. In 1947, he published Dark Carnival, his first collection of short stories. In 1950, The Martian Chronicles were published, his first major novel to land him on the map. Labelled a science fiction writer from this point on, Bradbury refuted the claim and fiercely declared:

I don’t write science fiction…Science fiction is a depiction of the real. Fantasy is a depiction of the unreal. So Martian Chronicles is not science fiction, it’s fantasy. It couldn’t happen, you see?”

His most outstanding novel, Fahrenheit 451 was published in 1953. It became an instant classic for its themes of conformity and censorship. 

Throughout his career Bradbury never stopped writing. His daughters granted him the pleasure of transcribing his work while he dictated well into his 90s. During his later years, he participated in many interviews and raised funds for his local library. It is no secret that Bradbury had always been outspoken about his love for writing and libraries. On his 80th birthday in 2000, Bradbury stated:

“The great fun in my life has been getting up every morning and rushing to the typewriter because some new idea has hit me. The feeling I have every day is very much the same as it was when I was twelve. In any event, here I am, eighty years old, feeling no different, full of a great sense of joy, and glad for the long life that has been allowed me. I have good plans for the next ten or twenty years, and I hope you’ll come along..”

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