Ray Bradbury

Date of Birth: August 22, 1920

Zodiac Sign: Leo

Date of Death: June 5, 2012

Biography

Ray Douglas Bradbury was an American author and screenwriter, best known for his dystopian novel “Fahrenheit 451” and his science fiction and horror stories in “The Martian Chronicles” and “The Illustrated Man”. Born on August 22, 1920, in Waukegan, Illinois, Bradbury developed an early interest in writing and began his career as a writer in his early twenties. His works are characterized by their imaginative themes and exploration of the human condition. Over his lifetime, Bradbury wrote 27 novels and over 600 short stories, as well as numerous plays, screenplays, and teleplays. He received numerous awards and honors, including a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation in 2007. Bradbury’s influence extends beyond literature into popular culture, and his works remain relevant and widely read to this day.

5 Interesting Facts about Ray Bradbury

1. Ray Bradbury never obtained a driver’s license; he was terrified of driving.

2. He wrote “Fahrenheit 451” in the basement of UCLA’s Powell Library using a typewriter he rented for ten cents per half-hour.

3. Bradbury’s first published story was “Hollerbochen’s Dilemma,” which appeared in the magazine Imagination! in 1938.

4. He was a close friend of special effects artist Ray Harryhausen and wrote the script for the 1953 film “It Came from Outer Space.”

5. Bradbury was a staunch advocate for public libraries, crediting them for his education and success as a writer.

5 Most Interesting Quotes from Ray Bradbury

1. “You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.”

2. “Stuff your eyes with wonder, live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It’s more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.”

3. “We are an impossibility in an impossible universe.”

4. “You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.”

5. “There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.”