Ray Douglas Bradbury He was born on August 22, 1920 in Waukegan, Illinois; son of Esther, a Swedish immigrant, and Leonard, a factory worker; his middle name, Douglas, was named after actor Douglas Fairbanks.
In 1926 he moved with the rest of the family to Tucson, Arizona; at the age of eleven he began to write his first stories. In 1934 the Bradburys moved to Los Angeles, where their father hoped to find work; the economic conditions of the family were not optimal.
Finally his father found a job, so they decided to stay permanently in the city of Los Angeles, settling near the Uptown Theater, on Western Avenue, a landmark of the Fox and MGM companies, where Ray he used to spy on movies and trailers.
Meanwhile, he cultivated his passion for reading: at the age of twelve he wrote his first horror stories in an attempt to imitate one of his favorite authors, Edgar Allan Poe; He was also passionate about the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs and Jules Verne. His efforts paid off: in 1946, Bradbury managed to publish “The Million Year Picnic“.
In 1947 he married Marguerite McClure, a young woman two years his junior; they both had four daughters, Susan, Ramona, Bettina and Alexandra).
In 1950 he decided to gather his “Martian Chronicles“in a single volume, which allowed him to achieve success in his 30s.
Shortly after, he wrote the anthology “The illustrated man” Y “It Came from Outer Space“but above all”The fire years“, a short novel that was published in the magazine” Galaxy Science Fiction “, and that in 1953 it was expanded to become”Fahrenheit 451“: a compliment to reading and literature, set in an imaginary and dystopian society.
This is the book that would consecrate Bradbury to fame, the story of rebels hiding in a forest to dedicate themselves to reading and escaping the wrath of the authorities responsible for the burning of all existing books: a story that does not hide a certain influence of the climate marked by American McCarthyism.
The 1950s were especially prolific for Bradbury: in 1953 he published “The golden apples of the sun“while two years later it was the turn of”The country of October“.
In 1956, he was commissioned to write the screenplay for “Moby dick“, a film directed by John Huston, based on the novel by Herman Melville. Between 1957 and 1959, it saw the light”Magic summer“and the anthology”End of the Beginning“.
In the 60s and 70s he published titles such as “The fair of darkness“,”The machines of happiness” Y “The Body Electric“From 1972, it is”Back to the Future and Other Games” Y “The witches tree“. After “Long after midnight“, in 1979, he completed the theatrical adaptation of”Fahrenheit 451“.
Despite the years, the pen of the American writer was confirmed more productive: between 1983 and 1985 it was published “Dinosaurs“,”34 Stories” Y “Death in venice“(” Death Is a Lonely Business “). In the second half of the eighties, he published”A Memory of Murder“,”Zen in the art of writing“Y “The Toynbee Convector“, before writing “A Graveyard for Lunatics“.
In 1999, the American writer was the victim of a heart attack, from which he recovered but which forced him, from that moment, to use a wheelchair. Despite this, he kept writing: “Ahmed and the Oblivion Machines“,”From the Dust Returned“,”One More for the Road” Y “Let’s All Kill Constance“
After typing “Goodbye to summer“(” Farewell Summer “), in 2007 Ray Bradbury received the Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters in France.
In 2009 he decided to retire from public life. Despite having always prevented the digital publication of his works, in 2011 he agreed with the publication of “Fahrenheit 451“in electronic format.
Ray Bradbury he died in Los Angeles, in the village where he had retired, on June 5, 2012, at the age of 91, after completing his last job, “
Now and Forever“.
A month after the writer’s death, the Curiosity rover landed on Mars on August 6, 2012: a few days later, on August 22, NASA scientists participating in the Mars Science Laboratory project decided to call Bradbury Landing to the Martian landing zone.