Ray Bradbury is 91
Ray Bradbury is 91 today, boasting a weighty literary legacy to his name encompassing genres like science fiction, fantasy, and horror.
Born on August 22, 1920, Ray Douglas Bradbury went on to publish over 500 works, including his famous masterpiece: “Fahrenheit 451,” and “The Martian Chronicles.”
Among his other renowned works are “The Illustrated Man,” “Dandelion Wine,” and “Something Wicked This Way Comes” – reports Wired.
Aiming to be both a magician and a writer, Bradbury managed to become both. He was the creative consultant on the United States Pavilion at the 1964 World’s Fair.
Bradbury hosted the syndicated television series: “The Ray Bradbury Theatre,” from 1985 to 1992 and many of his works have been adapted for film, television, radio and comic books.
Mr Bradbury (who said he was “raised in libraries”) wrote the screenplay for Melville’s “Moby Dick,” directed by John Huston, The Los Angeles Times reports.
Furthermore, his script “I Sing the Body Electric” was the 100th episode of the popular cult TV show “The Twilight Zone.”
In 2000, he was awarded the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.
Ray Bradbury.
Alice Hoffman telling:
When my father took his leave of the family, he left behind a box of his books, and in doing so he gave me the gift of Ray Bradbury.
The summer that I began reading Bradbury, even the ordinary world became magical. I inhaled the books – “Something Wicked this Way Comes,” “Dandelion Wine,” “The Illustrated Man,” “The Martian Chronicles” and, of course, his master work – “Fahrenheit 451.”
His stories embraced a different reality, and they insulated me from the despair of a family that was breaking apart. It was the realization that stories could save readers that made me begin thinking about being a writer myself. I was able to see through my own heartbreak into the future, and I decided to write myself there.
My first story was about a lone survivor in a world that had been devastated. It was only later I realized I was writing about myself, about a girl who felt alone, who clung to fiction and to Bradbury’s books as if they were a life raft.
Bradbury tells the story of how, as a boy in 1932, he went to a country fair where a carnival entertainer named Mr. Electrico touched him on the nose with an electrified sword, made his hair stand on end and shouted ‘Live forever!’
He has certainly achieved eternal life through his books, which are destined to live on. But it’s beginning to seem as if he took the ‘live forever’ command literally as well. On Monday Ray Bradbury turned 91, and his birthday is the perfect day to reflect on all he has given us.
The writer who says he was ‘raised in libraries’ wrote a work of genius warning of a future in which books are so dangerous that they are burned. Where did he write it? In a library, of course, at UCLA, working on a rented typewriter.
Ray Bradbury celebrates his 91st birthday today. The author of ‘The Martian Chronicles,’ ‘Dandelion Wine,’ ‘Something Wicked This Way Comes’ and ‘Fahrenheit 451′ (who makes his home in Los Angeles) has had a wide cultural influence, consulting with the likes of both Disney and NASA.
Bradbury is the author of more than 30 books, hundreds of short stories, plus poetry, plays and books for children. He is credited as a writer on dozens of movie and television projects. He worked with John Huston on the screenplay of the 1956 film version of ‘Moby-Dick.’ He has recieved a National Medal of Arts, a special citation from the Pulitzer board, a medal for distinguished contribution to American letters from the National Book Foundation. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and an asteroid named in his honor.
Ray Bradbury has frequently made appearances at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books and other literary events around the Southland. Last year – his 90th birthday was celebrated during the officially declared Ray Bradbury Week.
This year, he’s taking it easy, but there is equal cause to celebrate the visionary science-fiction writer and his work. Happy birthday, Ray Bradbury!