41 Facts About Ray Bradbury And The Books He Has Written

Do you know what makes a prolific writer?

A prolific writer is one who can make your soul feel the words on the page, who can make your imagination run wild, whose book you just can't put down, who you can never forget. Ray Bradbury is one of the most prolific writers to ever exist.

Read on to learn more about how Ray Bradbury became one of the most widely known writers of the 20th century!

Early Life Of Ray Bradbury

Ray Douglas Bradbury wasn't always a full-time writer. Look at the facts about his early life to know how his journey started.

Ray Bradbury (August 22, 1920 – June 5, 2012) was born in Waukegan, Illinois, U.S. His father was Leonard Spaulding Bradbury, a power and telephone lineworker and his mother was, Ester Moberg Bradbury, a Swedish immigrant.

In his childhood days, he lived with his joint family in his birthplace.

His aunt used to read to him bedtime stories practically every night. She might just be the one who sparked his interest in books and writing.

The Bradburys lived in Tucson, Arizona, during 1926–1927 and 1932–1933 due to Bradbury's father's work. Here he went to Amphi Junior High School and Roskruge Junior High School.

In 1934, the family finally settled in Los Angeles, California. In this city, he attended Los Angeles High School.

In school, he was an enthusiastic member of the drama club, and outside school, he would roller skate through the neighborhood of Hollywood, hoping to spot a celebrity. He managed to meet Ray Harryhausen and George Burns.

He loved reading, and he started writing at the age of 12.

At the age of 14, Bradbury, for the first time in his life, earned some money as a writer. He sold a joke to George Burns to use it in his radio show 'Burns and Allen'. 

Career Of Ray Bradbury

Here are some facts about Ray Bradbury's career.

'Hollerbochen's Dilemma' was the first short story of Bradbury's that was published. It appeared in a fanzine named 'Imagination!' by Forrest J. Ackerman in January 1938. In 1938, he wrote many science fiction stories and published them in a fanzine.

A little over a year after his first publication, Bradbury, at the age of 19, attended the First World Science Fiction Convention in New York. His brief trip was funded by Ackerman and his girlfriend. They even funded 'Futuria Fantasia', Bradbury's very own fanzine.

Ackerman even invited the young science fiction author to the Science Fiction Society of Los Angeles. He met several science fiction and fantasy writers there, including Jack Williamson, Henry Kuttner, Leigh Brackett, Emil Petaja, Robert A. Heinlein, and Fredric Brown.

During the Second World War, he was turned down from military service due to bad eyesight. This gave him the freedom to start his writing career.

Back in the late '30s, Bradbury decided to join the Wilshire Players Guild by Laraine Day, where he wrote and performed in a number of plays for the next two years. He didn't compose plays for about two decades because of his negative experience.

Bradbury's first formal paid piece, 'Pendulum', was written alongside Henry Hasse. In November 1941, it was printed in 'Super Science Stories'.

In the '40s, for seven years, he contributed to 'Script', Rob Wagner's film magazine.

When he was 22, he sold his very first solo story named 'The Lake'. By the time he was 24, he was working as a writer full-time.

Arkham House published 'Dark Carnival', his debut collection of short stories, in 1947. Will Cuppy of the New York Herald Tribune reviewed this collection of short stories.

After some success, Bradbury faced rejection from 'Weird Tales'. He didn't let that bring him down and submitted another piece named 'Homecoming' and got it published.

'Homecoming' was even named one of the 1947 O. Henry Award Stories!

Bradbury wrote 'The Fireman' in a library, UCLA's Powell Library, which was later published under a different name, 'Fahrenheit 451', and at double the words in which it was written. 'Fahrenheit 451' had a word count of 50,000.

He became internationally popular after the publication of 'The Martian Chronicles'. In addition, he created and commented on screenplays and television shows such as 'Moby Dick' and 'It Came from Outer Space'.

He has won many awards and honors for his notable work. Some of his most notable awards are the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1954), Inkpot Award (1974), Daytime Emmy Award (1994), National Medal of Arts (2004), and Pulitzer Prize Special Citation (2007).

Bradbury was even recognized by The New York Times for making modern science fiction mainstream.

Famous Books Written By Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury is not only a science fiction writer, but he is also a fantasy, horror, and mystery fiction writer. He has over 30 published books, around 600 short stories, countless poems, essays, and plays.

Many of his stories were adapted to various other media like comic books, television, and film productions as well! Are you curious about which famous books written by Ray Bradbury redefined American literature? Read these facts to know.

'Fahrenheit 451' is one of Bradbury's best works. This dystopian novel was published on October 19, 1953, by Ballantine Books Publisher. 'Fahrenheit 451' revolves around a firefighter who becomes disillusioned by censoring literature and destroying knowledge.

'The Martian Chronicles' is a science fiction book that was published by Doubleday. This is one of those stories which takes you into the post-apocalyptic world, where Americans leave the Earth to go to Mars to explore and settle there.

'Something Wicked This Way Comes' is a dark fantasy book published by Simon & Schuster. The plot revolves around two best friends, Jim Nightshade and William Halloway, and their experience with supernatural beings who enter Green Town under the pretext of a traveling carnival.

'The Illustrated Man' is a collection of 18 short stories, which was published by Doubleday & Company. The main theme in all these stories is the conflict between technology and the psychology of human beings.

'Dandelion Wine' was published by Doubleday in 1957. It is based on the childhood home of Bradbury.

'The Halloween Tree' goes through the history of Samhain and Halloween. This fantasy book was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1973.

Inspiration Of Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury had always been an avid reader since he was a kid, which had a huge influence on his writing. Some other things that inspired and influenced his work are given in the facts below.

Two important incidents shaped Bradbury into the writer he turned out to be.

One of those two incidents was when his mother took him to see 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame'.

The second incident was when Mr. Electrico, a carnival entertainer, touched his nose with an electrifying sword and shouted, 'Live forever!' This encouraged him to write every day.

When Bradbury was a kid, he used to read the works of H. G. Wells, Jules Verne, and Edgar Allan Poe. Poe was a huge inspiration as he tried to mimic him until he turned 18 years old.

He was so taken with 'The Warlord of Mars' that he penned his own sequel when he was 12 years old. Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers, science fiction heroes, inspired him to become a science fiction writer.

Did You Know...

Here are some interesting facts about Bradbury that no one might be aware of!

When Bradbury was 12 years old, he began with writing at least 1000 words per day on his typewriter. He maintained his habit and wrote over a million words during his lifetime.

The science fiction book, 'Fahrenheit 451', is based on reality. Bradbury wrote this book because of his concerns regarding the threat of book burning in the United States.

One of the most famous quotes of Bradbury is 'You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.'

In all his life, Bradbury just relied upon public transport to go from place to place; he never got his driver's license.

He only dated one woman in his whole life, and he married her. Her name was Marguerite McClure; he liked calling her 'Maggie'. Bradbury and Maggie had four daughters named Susan, Ramona, Bettina, and Alexandra.

Jason V Brock's 'Charles Beaumont: The Short Life of Twilight Zone's Magic Man' features Ray Bradbury.

The script of the 100th episode of 'The Twilight Zone' was written by Bradbury.