Ray Bradbury 1920 – 2012

Born in Waukegan, Illinois, on August 22, 1920 Also lived in Arizona and Los Angeles

Started to love the entertainment world at age 3 when he saw the film The Hunchback of Notre Dame Became interested in books and writing at age 7 when his aunt read him Edgar Allan Poe stories One of the most important events of his childhood was when a carnival came to town

Throughout his life, Bradbury liked to recount the story of meeting a carnival magician, Mr. Electrico, in 1932. At the end of his performance, Electrico reached out to the twelve-year-old Bradbury, touched the boy with his sword, and commanded, Live forever! Bradbury later said, I decided that was the greatest idea I had ever heard. I started writing every day. I never stopped.

In high school, he developed an interest in theater. After high school, worked in a theater and as a newsboy while continuing to write. Couldn’t serve in WWII due to poor eyesight, so he devoted his efforts to writing. Married Marguerite McClure in 1947. They had four children. They remained married until her death in 2003.

Ray Bradbury died on June 5, 2012, at the age of 91 after a long illness. He lived in Los Angeles.

Genre – fantasy and science fiction (Although he claims he only wrote one true sci-fi novel, 451.) Famous books include: Something Wicked This Way Comes, Dandelion Wine, and Fahrenheit 451 Wrote many scripts for television shows Alfred Hitchcock Presents The Twilight Zone

Has a distrust of technology. (technophobe) He never learned to drive, refused to use a computer, and avoiding flying for over 60 years. Wants to make sure technology is used in a responsible way. “Science fiction is a wonderful hammer; I intend to use it when and if necessary, to bark a few shins or knock a few heads, in order to make people leave people alone.”

Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian novel by Ray Bradbury published in 1953 Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian novel by Ray Bradbury published in 1953. It is regarded as one of his best works. The novel presents a future American society where books are outlawed and "firemen" burn any that are found. The title refers to the temperature that Bradbury understood to be the autoignition point of paper.[

The novel has been the subject of various interpretations, primarily focusing on the historical role of book burning in suppressing dissenting ideas. In a 1956 radio interview, Bradbury stated that he wrote Fahrenheit 451 because of his concerns at the time (during the McCarthy era) about censorship and the threat of book burning in the United States. In later years, he stated his motivation for writing the book in more general terms.