Greats of Science Fiction

Bradbury, Ray

A fireman who burns books. A suit that grants wishes. A butterfly that changes history. Unique ideas and images from one versatile mind: author Ray Bradbury.

Ray Bradbury was born in Waukegan, Illinois on August 22, 1920. His father worked for the power and telephone companies and young Ray experienced a peaceful small town life filled with friends and family. He later immortalized his hometown as the fictional “Green Town” in works like Dandelion Wine and Summer Morning, Summer Night.

At age twelve, Bradbury’s life changed when a carnival performer named Mr. Electrico tapped him with an electric sword and said “Live forever.” He frequently referred to the event as the origin of his prolific creative energy.

During the Great Depression, the Bradbury family moved west, first to Arizona and then to Los Angeles, California. Bradbury enjoyed the excitement and diversity Los Angeles offered and found outlets for his interests in writing, music, and acting. He liked to roller skate around Hollywood, collect celebrity autographs, and watch movies.

While attending high school, Bradbury sold newspapers and wrote short stories. He found other science fiction fans through the Los Angeles Science Fiction Society. Lifelong friends among the writers, actors, and artists he met included stop motion animator Ray Harryhausen and the editor Forest J Ackerman who supported and promoted many SF writers. Bradbury’s first published story appeared in Ackerman’s fan magazine, Imagination!

In 1938, Bradbury graduated from high school but couldn’t afford to attend college. Instead he visited public libraries three nights a week to educate himself and pursued this goal for ten years. He was a life-long advocate of public libraries and self-directed learning.

Bradbury’s influences were eclectic. He read everything: comic strips, pulp fiction, poetry and literature, and classic science fiction authors Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. He admired his contemporaries in science fiction, Robert Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke.

Due to poor eyesight, Bradbury was exempt from military service during World War II. The sale of his short story “The Lake” marked the beginning of his professional writing career. He married Marguerite McClure and during their marriage the couple had four daughters.

Bradbury’s career began with the Golden Age of science fiction and flourished in the 1950s, when the public’s imagination was captured by the idea of space exploration. But Bradbury didn’t consider himself a hard science fiction writer and listed his novel Fahrenheit 451 as his only true SF work. In a New York Times magazine interview, he explained that “Science fiction is the art of the possible. Fantasy is the art of the impossible.”

Fahrenheit 451 depicts a dystopia where firemen burn books for a state that bans the written word. Fireman Guy Montag must decide whether he will continue to destroy information or join the rebels who want to keep knowledge alive.

More often, Bradbury wrote poetic prose with science fiction themes. His works cross the lines between genre fiction and literature, science fiction and fantasy; “I Sing the Body Electric” introduces a family with a robot grandmother, “The Sound of Thunder” features time travel safaris, “The Magic White Suit” five men pool their money together to buy an elegant suit that changes their lives and the stories in the collection "The Martian Chronicles" describe the social and psychological effects of colonizing another planet.

Bradbury welcomed space exploration and a wider dissemination of information but warned about the dehumanizing and destructive effects of technology. This was apparent in “The Veldt” where two children take the premise of a virtual reality program very seriously and “A Piece of Wood” features a soldier who wants to end war and eliminate weapons.

In his personal life, Bradbury never learned to drive a car and always used typewriters for his work.

Throughout his seventy year career, Bradbury earned numerous awards and honors, such as the Prometheus Award, a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame, and the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement. The landing site of the Curiosity rover on Mars was named after him. His works have been adapted for radio, film, theater, and television including the Ray Bradbury Theater series on HBO.

Bradbury encouraged writers to nourish their passions. He remarked in his book Zen in the Art of Writing, "I have never listened to anyone who criticized my taste in space travel, sideshows, or gorillas. When this occurs, I pack up my dinosaurs and leave the room.” 

Bradbury passed away in Los Angeles on June 5, 2012 at the age of 92. His gift was to take readers to the places where the possible and the impossible meet.

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Written by gnosticpomegranate