home Auditorium 8 Biography and creative activity of Ray Douglas Bradbury. Biography of Bradbury Ray

Biography and creative activity of Ray Douglas Bradbury. Biography of Bradbury Ray

Each of his works was a sincere story about small people and big worlds, about love and the future of humanity, about issues of life and death, and instantly became the property of world literature.

Sputnik Georgia talks about the 10 most little-known facts from the life and work of Ray Bradbury, a man who managed to awaken readers’ interest in the genres of science fiction and fantasy, which before him were on the periphery of modern culture.

1. The proximity of death

Bradbury felt close to death from an early age. He had two older twin brothers, born in 1916: Leonard and Sam, Sam died at the age of two. Sister Elizabeth, born in 1926, also died in childhood from pneumonia, and the writer’s grandfather passed away in the same year. Such an early acquaintance with death could not help but be reflected in many of the writer’s future works.

“Death! I will fight it with my works, my books, my children who will remain after me,” Bradbury wrote.

2. Descendant of the sorceress

There was a legend in the Bradbury family that the writer’s great-grandmother Mary Bradbury was burned at the famous “Salem Trial” of 1692. The sentences of all convicted witches were overturned in 1957. This fact has not been reliably confirmed, but Ray himself believed in it.

©AP Photo/

3. No education - there is a future

Ray did not have a college degree. In 1938 he graduated from high school. Due to the family's difficult financial situation, there was no money for higher education; Bradbury was never able to go to college. The young man spent the next three years of his life selling newspapers on the streets of Los Angeles. But the lack of further education did not hinder him in life, which the writer mentioned in his article “How I graduated from the library instead of college, or Thoughts of a teenager who walked on the moon in 1932.” Ray spent his days in the library, reading Shaw, Chesterton, Stevenson, Shakespeare, Dickens. The writer recalled: “I read books three days a week. At the age of 27, instead of university, I graduated from the library.”

4. Love of my life

Bradbury met his future wife and the love of his life, Margaret (Maggie) McClure, in 1946 in a Los Angeles bookstore where she worked. A year later, in 1947, Maggie and Ray married, their marriage lasted until McClure's death in 2003. For the first few years, Maggie worked hard to ensure Ray had the opportunity to be creative. Writing at that time did not bring him much income. The family's total monthly income was about $250, of which Margaret earned half. Their marriage produced four daughters: Bettina, Ramona, Susan and Alexandra. The author's dedication in the novel "The Martian Chronicles" is addressed to McClure: "To my wife Margaret, with sincere love."

5. Playboy fame

Bradbury gained worldwide fame after publishing the novel Fahrenheit 451 in 1953. It is noteworthy that the novel was first published in the then recently appeared Playboy magazine. In the novel, Bradbury showed a totalitarian society in which any books are subject to burning. In 1966, director François Truffaut adapted the novel into the feature film Fahrenheit 451.

6. Fear of car accidents

Throughout his life, Bradbury was terrified of car accidents. During the Great Depression, the family often had to cross the country in search of a place to settle, and Ray witnessed more than once horrific car accidents. One day he found himself very close to a broken car in which a dying woman was lying, and for some time they looked into each other’s eyes. The extremely impressionable young man fell ill that same day and vowed never to drive a car. He could not get rid of these difficult memories for the rest of his life, and sometimes they burst through in his stories.

7.Phenomenal memory

Ray Bradbury had a phenomenal memory. According to the writer, he remembered everything he heard and saw almost from the moment of birth. Later, with the same ease, he remembered everything he read. Bradbury wrote that he could mentally return to the hour of his birth: “I remember cutting the umbilical cord, I remember sucking my mother’s breast for the first time. The nightmares that usually await a newborn are included in my mental cheat sheet from the very first weeks of life.” Some of his biographers believe that Ray could have been born post-term, ten months old, as a result of which the baby could have developed vision and hearing in the last month of his stay in the womb.

8. Appeal to authorities

In his work, Ray Brewbury more than once turned to authorities - he paid tribute to great writers and poets. "Something terrible is coming" - a line from Shakespeare's Macbeth; "The Outlandish Wonder" - from Coleridge's unfinished poem; Yeats' line "Golden apples of the sun, silver apples of the moon"; “I Sing the Electric Body” - a reference to Whitman (of the electric body I sing; Legions of loved ones embrace me, and I embrace them); “And the moon still silvers the expanse with its rays...” - this is Byron (... we must not wander at night, even though our soul is full of love). The second title of the story "Asleep at Armageddon" - "And to Dream, Perhaps" - are the words of Hamlet. “The sailor has returned home, he has returned home from the sea!” - these words begin “Requiem” by Robert Louis Stevenson. The story "Machines of Happiness" is titled with a line from William Blake. His stories bring to life Thomas Wolfe ("On the Eternal Wanderings and the Earth"), Charles Dickens ("The Most Wonderful Time"), Hemingway ("The Kilimanjaro Machine"), Stendhal ("Escher 2"), Bernard Shaw ("Mark 5"). His characters constantly quote their favorite authors. As Granger said in Fahrenheit 451: "... when they ask us what we are doing, we will answer: we remember. Yes, we are the memory of mankind, and therefore we will certainly win in the end."

9. People are idiots

Ray Bradbury gave the following definition of fiction: “Fiction is our reality, taken to the point of absurdity.” In the novel, Bradbury foresaw and described modern life, or rather the destruction of world mass culture. Years later, answering the question why many of his predictions did not come true, the writer sharply replied: “Because people are idiots.” According to the science fiction writer, modern society wants to engage in consumption - drink beer and watch TV series. They came up with dog costumes, advertising manager positions, and useless “things like the iPhone.” But it was possible to develop science and explore space, Bradbury believed.

10. Faith in the best

Ray Bradbury believed in the best until the very end. Being already quite an old man, he began every morning by working on the manuscript of the next story or novel, believing that one more new work would prolong his life. Books were published almost every year. The last major novel was published in 2006, receiving high consumer demand even before its release. At the age of 79, Bradbury suffered a stroke, after which he was confined to a wheelchair for the last years of his life, but retained his presence of mind and sense of humor.

In one of his last interviews, the master said: “You know, ninety years is not at all as cool as I thought before. And it’s not that I’m driving around the house in a wheelchair, getting stuck on turns... A hundred just sounds more respectable. Imagine the headlines in all the newspapers of the world - “Bradbury is one hundred years old!” They will immediately give me some kind of award: simply for the fact that I have not died yet.”

Ray Bradbury, the famous author of science fiction works, whose books have been translated into more than 40 languages, was born on August 22, 1920 in Waukegan, Illinois, USA, in the family of a telephone line adjuster and a Swedish immigrant. In 1934, the Bradbury family moved to California, and young Ray often visited Hollywood in search of celebrity autographs. At just 14 years old, he was serendipitously hired as a writer for a television show.

In Los Angeles, he attended high school, participated in a theater group, and planned to become an actor. After graduating from school in 1938, he did not study anywhere else.

From 1938 to 1942, Ray Bradbury sold newspapers on the streets of the city, spent a lot of time in the public library, and printed his first texts at night. In 1941, his story "Pendulum" was bought by a science fiction magazine, and by the end of 1942 Bradbury was working full-time as a writer.

In 1947, the science fiction writer’s first book, “Dark Carnival,” was published, which included all the stories written by that time. That same year, Bradbury married Margaret Susan McClure, with whom they lived their entire lives and had four daughters.

Fame came to the writer after the publication in 1950 of the famous “Martian Chronicles,” which told about the colonization of Mars by earthlings and their interaction with Martians.

The next masterpiece was the dystopia “Fahrenheit 451,” published in 1953, a book about a society of censorship and totalitarianism. In 1966, director François Trufaut filmed the novel. Subsequently, many of Bradbury's works were adapted for television and radio.

In 2014, the writer received the US National Medal of the Arts. Also on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Bradbury's name is immortalized in a five-pointed copper star. The asteroid “9766 Bradbury” is named in his honor, and there is a Dandelion Crater on the Moon, as a recognition of the readers’ love for the immortal work “Dandelion Wine.”

Ray Bradbury died on June 6, 2012 at the age of 91 in Los Angeles. Over his long life, he wrote about 600 stories, published more than 30 books, and wrote numerous poems, plays and scripts for television shows.

Bradbury - biography 2

Ray Douglas Bradbury is the most famous science fiction writer of our time. Although his works are fantastic, each hero is absolutely characteristic of the Earth. His works not only perfectly show the relationships of people with each other, but also show the global problems of humanity.

He was born on August 22, 1920 in Waukegan (USA) into a family of English pioneers of North America and a Swedish mother. Ray Bradbury's parents were very fond of the new direction - cinema, so Ray was given his middle name in honor of the popular actor. An interesting fact is that Ray Bradbury, according to family legend, had a great-grandmother who was the “Salem witch”, who was sentenced to death during the witch hunts in 1962. Ray had twin brothers, but one of the brothers died in early childhood, and a sister who also died in childhood.

In 1934, Ray and his family went to visit relatives in Los Angeles, where he graduated from high school, but there was no money for further education. Ray sold newspapers for several years in a row, and instead of going to college, he “studied” in the library, which gave him a unique education.

Bradbury began his writing career by publishing in cheap magazines. Later, he began to develop his own style and correct shortcomings in his works. He first spoke about the future and global problems of humanity in his magazine, which was published 4 times in 2 years.

In 1946, he met his future wife Margaret McClure, and on September 27, 1947, they got married. The marriage produced 4 daughters, and the marriage itself lasted until the end of Margaret’s life.

The stories did not bring quality income to the family. Ray Bradbury's success came with the collection The Martian Chronicles. The most famous is his dystopia - “Fahrenheit 451”, which appeared on the pages of Playboy magazine. A film of the same name was released based on this novel. Bradbury was a screenwriter for famous films, one of which was Moby Dick. Throughout his creative career, Bradbury was fond of fantasy and drama, which is clearly expressed in his book “Farewell Summer,” which is his unspoken autobiography. The sequel to the book was officially published only 50 years later. In the 60s, a dramatic collection dedicated to Ireland was published. In the mid-60s, television shows based on Ray's stories appeared. Increasingly, stories not related to science fiction began to be published, which were published in well-known magazines. In the 70s, collections of poems were published, which in 1982 were printed under a common binding. Also in the 80s, many works from earlier years were republished.

Ray Bradbury began each day by writing stories that consistently delighted readers every year. But at the age of 79 he had a stroke, after which he found himself in a wheelchair. On June 5, 2012, Ray Bradbury died in Los Angeles, and the house in which he lived was demolished in 2015.

Unusual, unique, extraordinary - such epithets can be applied to the work of the outstanding science fiction writer Ray Douglas Bradbury. When you pick up his novel or story, you are surprised at the non-standard nature of what is written. With its heroes, you can take a time machine into the distant past, step into another world, defeat the forces of evil and fight enemies. Over the course of his life, more than eight hundred different works came from the pen of the writer Ray Bradbury.

The talented child was born on August 22, 1920 in Waukegan, Illinois. His mother, Marie Esther Moberg, was from the large Swedish Moberg clan. The woman lost two children (a son and a daughter), and therefore overprotected Ray, not allowing him to get out of bed for a long time even with a cold. The impressionable boy, who had an amazing memory, received the news of the death of his brother and sister Elizabeth with bitterness. This influenced his stories in the future, one of the main themes of which was escaping death into fantastic, imaginary worlds.

What was incredible was the fact that Ray, unlike other children, remembered the first hours after his birth. Maybe this is due to the fact that he was born prematurely. The boy clearly remembered both the first snowfall and how he was taken to the cinema for the first time at the age of three. The image of a freak in a film called “The Hunchback of Notre Dame Cathedral” struck an impressionable child.

Ray's relationship with his father Leonard Spaulding Bradbury and his older brother did not work out. The dissimilarity of characters affected: Ray Bradbury was very distinguished by his dreaminess and love of reading. Fiction is one of the writer's genres. In the images of heroes you can often recognize members of his family. For example, Uncle Einar (his image is presented in the science fiction story of the same name by writer Bradbury) really existed. He was Ray's favorite relative, his uncle, who moved to Los Angeles with his family. Also, the names of Bion and Aunt Nevada are taken from real life in the stories.

Over four hundred stories came from the pen of Ray Bradbury. This includes “Tomorrow the end of the world” (The Last Night of the World), and “The Shoreline at Sunset”, and “The Smile”, as well as “A Sound of Thunder”. ) and many others. The author refers to many stories and tales as quotes from the works of other famous writers and poets: “Something Wicked This Way Comes” - from Shakespeare; “An Outlandish Wonder” - from Coleridge’s unfinished poem “Kubla(y) Khan”... It is surprising that the author of these unique creations received only a school education, although at school he attended a poetry club, the visitors of which, besides him, were thirteen talented girls.

Young Ray decided on what he wanted to become at the age of 12. Persistently, step by step, he masters the difficult profession of a writer, despite the Great Depression that reigned in America.

Beginning of a writer's career

His first publication was the poem “In Memory of Will Rogers,” published in 1936 in a Waukegan newspaper.

In the 30s, the Bradbury family moved to Los Angeles. And at the age of 20, Ray began to read the works of Dostoevsky, which were a kind of textbooks for a talented young man. The future writer saw an example of how to write novels correctly.

In 1937, Bradbury joined the League of Science Fiction Writers, an association of young writers. After a while, his first stories could be seen in cheap paperback editions. But among other works they stood out for their lyricism and depth of thought.

Ray Douglas Bradbury's first serious works were his collection of short stories entitled "The Gloomy Carnival", published in 1947, as well as the works "The Martian Chronicles" and "Farneit 451", which were published in 1950. The first edition of The Martian Chronicles won fans of the writer's talent: when he returned from a trip (to sell books, Ray had to travel from Los Angeles to New York), he was met by a crowd of people wanting to get an autograph.

If you are not familiar with the famous popular science fiction story, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with its summary before reading.

By the way, the first copy of the book “The Martian Chronicles” was typed by the hands of his devoted colleague and wife Margaret (and also dedicated to her). The author of unique science fiction works linked his fate with this woman on September 27, 1947. She attached great importance to Ray's creative work and therefore, from the day of her marriage, she gave her husband the opportunity to stay at home and create.

An erudite and educated woman, Margaret spoke four languages, knew well the features of literature and preferred certain writers (including Agatha Christie, Marcel Proust and, of course, her beloved Ray Bradbury). In the marriage of this wonderful couple, four daughters were born: Alexandra, Susan, Bettina and Ramona. Another serious work of Bradbury can be considered the book “Dandelion Wine,” published in 1957, a novel that was compiled from separate stories. Unfortunately, its continuation, which was called “Summer, Farewell,” was not immediately published due to, as the editors claimed, “the immaturity of the text.” This novel was published only in 2006.

What is Ray Bradbury's main achievement? The fact that he managed to interest his reader in new genres of science fiction and fantasy, which had previously been rarely used in literature. After 1963, Ray Bradbury, as before, continued to publish stories, but in addition, he became interested in a new genre - drama. A consequence of this was the first collection of plays, The Anthem Sprinters and Other Antics, dedicated to Ireland, which was released in 1963.

Bradbury's passion for poetry manifested itself in the writing of three collections, which were published in one volume in 1982. During this period of his life, the author created many novels and stories, far from the fantasy genre, and was published in various magazines.

Cinema became an important component of his creative life for Ray Bradbury. Raised on classic Hollywood films, the science fiction writer calls his stories, novels and novellas “cinematic.” In addition, many film scripts came from his pen, in particular for the film “Moby Dick”, which became the most successful.

From 1985 to 1992, the series of television shows “The Ray Bradbury Theater” was released, which consists of sixty-five mini-films based on Bradbury’s stories. Ray Bradbury is also honored by the fact that his work as a screenwriter was highly appreciated by the outstanding director Sergei Bondarchuk.

last years of life

When Ray Bradbury was already in old age, he wrote either a story or a novella every day in the hope that it would prolong his life. The most recent major novel was published in 2006. At the age of 79, the writer suffered a stroke, as a result of which he was forced to sit in a wheelchair. But even in this state, the author was able to joke and maintain good spirits. “Imagine the headlines in all the newspapers in the world,” the writer answered reporters when he was ninety. Bradbury is one hundred years old! They’ll give me some kind of bonus right away.” Alas, the famous writer did not live to see his centenary for eight years. He died in 2012.

Such is the fantastic fate of the prose writer and screenwriter, poet and science fiction writer Ray Bradbury.

Biography and creative activity of Ray Douglas Bradbury

5 (100%) 2 votes

Ray Bradbury is a legendary science fiction writer who turned his childhood dreams and nightmares, poor eyesight (which forced him to refuse military service), and Cold War paranoia into a brilliant literary career that spanned 74 years and included horror, science fiction, fantasy, humor, plays, short stories, novels and much more. We present to you a list of the 10 best books by Ray Bradbury that we would recommend everyone to read.

10 Best Books by Ray Bradbury

1. FAHRENHEIT 451 (1953)

Inspired by the Cold War and the meteoric rise of television, Bradbury, a library stalwart, wrote this dark, futuristic work in 1953. His future world is filled only with televisions and mindless entertainment, people have already stopped thinking and communicating with each other, and such masses no longer need literature, so in this world Bradbury Firemen are needed not to put out fires, but to burn books. “This novel is based on real facts, as well as on my hatred of those who burn books,” said Bradbury in an interview with The Associated Press in 2002.

He wrote Fahrenheit 451 in just nine days at the UCLA library. It was typed on a typewriter rented for 10 cents per half hour. So the total amount that Bradbury spent on his bestseller was $9.80.

2. THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES (1950)

In 1950 debut novel Ray Bradbury The Martian Chronicles brought him worldwide fame. Here he talks about man's militant colonization of a utopian Martian nation. The work is structured in the form of a chain of stories, each of which ridiculed the very real problems of humanity at that time - racism, capitalism and the super-struggle for control over the planet. Most likely with The Martian Chronicles, as with some other works Bradbury, the reader gets to know him as a child. Adults can easily see that all the author’s fantastic worlds are just our planet Earth, which is so amazing and mysterious, and which is destroyed not by strange creatures, but by man himself.

3. THE ILLUSTRATED MAN (1951)

This collection of 18 non-fiction stories published in 1951 Bradbury tries to look into the very human insides in order to describe in detail the reasons for certain actions. The growing struggle between technology and human psychology, along with the central story of a tattooed vagabond, the "Illustrated Man", connects the new collection with previous work Bradbury. The writer took the character “man in pictures” from his previous collection “Dark Carnival”. “The Illustrated Man” is a collection of creative powers at their peak Bradbury. The ideas raised here will form the basis for the writer’s further fantastic philosophy. It took him a lot of effort to persuade the publisher not to call the collection science fiction. It is thanks to this Ray Bradbury managed to get rid of the status of a low-grade scribbler.

4. SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES (1962)

This fantastic horror film tells the story of two boys who ran away from home at night to watch a carnival and witnessed the transformation of Kuger (a forty-year-old carnival participant) into a twelve-year-old boy. This is what begins the adventure of the two boys, during which they explore the contradictory nature of good and evil. The title of the novel comes from the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare: “It pricks my fingers./ So always/ Trouble is coming.” This story was originally written as a film script directed by Gene Kelly, but he was never able to find financing, so Bradbury created a full-fledged novel out of it.

5. DANDELION WINE (1957)

This partially autobiographical novel takes place in 1928 in the fictional town of Green Town, Illinois. The prototype of this place is the hometown Bradbury— Waukegan is in the same state. Much of the book describes the routine of small-town America and the simple joys of the past, centered on the preparation of wine from dandelion petals. It is this wine that becomes the metaphorical bottle into which all the joys of summer are poured. Despite the fact that the book does not have the usual supernatural theme for the writer, the magic itself revolves around childhood feelings and experiences that can no longer be repeated in adulthood. You should not try to read this book in one sitting: you should try it in small sips, so that each page can give you its own magic of your childhood.

6. THE SOND OF SUNDER (1952)

This story tells us about a passionate hunter who is tired of his usual safari. Therefore, for a huge sum, he goes back in time to hunt a dinosaur. But unfortunately for him, the hunting rules are strict, since you can kill only one animal, which would have died anyway due to natural circumstances. The whole story is based on a theory that was later called the “butterfly effect.” The essence of this theory is that small changes in the past can have disastrous consequences for the future. But, in times Bradbury this term was not yet known, so “A Sound of Thunder” was most often attributed to chaos theory in its time. In 2005, this story was filmed under the same name.

7. DARK CARNIVAL (1947)

This is the first collection of stories Ray Bradbury. “The Dark Carnival” contains perhaps the largest concentration of “dark” horror films and fantastic stories from all of Bradbury’s works. Which is not strange, since being the works of an unknown writer, it was precisely such stories that brought Bradbury money. Initially, he wanted to call the collection “Kindergarten of Horrors,” thus drawing an analogy with children's nightmares. Scary, grotesque and distorted images populated these stories. There are maniacs, vampires and eccentric people who are afraid of their own skeletons. Ray Bradbury never returned entirely to this genre again, but the images he created at the beginning of his work resurfaced more than once in his more famous works.

8. SUMMER, GOODBYE! / FAREWELL SUMMER (2006)

This is the last novel Ray Bradbury, released during his lifetime, and is partly autobiographical. This is a kind of continuation of Dandelion Wine, in which the main character, Douglas Spalding, gradually turns into an adult man. And during this period of growing up, the line dividing young people and old people becomes clearly visible. According to himself Bradbury the idea for this story came to him back in the 50s, and he planned to release it in the same “Dandelion Wine,” but the volume was too large for the publishing house: “But for this book, rejected by the publishers, the title arose immediately: “Summer, Goodbye". So, all these years, the second part of “Dandelion Wine” has matured to such a state where, from my point of view, it is not a shame to show it to the world. I patiently waited for these chapters of the novel to acquire new thoughts and images, giving life to the entire text,” said Bradbury.

9. DEATH IS A LONELY BUSINESS (1985)

The place and time of this detective novel is Venice, California, 1949. A series of brutal murders, undoubtedly related to each other, attracts the attention of an aspiring writer, undoubtedly copied from the very Bradbury. He and detective Elmo Crumley are trying to figure out what is happening. This is one of the first works in which Bradbury develops his abilities in the detective genre, and also shows his first attempts to tie the plot to himself. The author was inspired to write the novel by a real series of murders that occurred in Los Angeles from 1942 to 1950. Bradbury was there at the time and kept a close eye on the story.

10. THE GOLDEN APPLES OF THE SUN (1953)

This is the third collection of stories Ray Bradbury. In it, the writer decided to move away from the science fiction genre and focus on more realistic stories, fairy tales and detective stories. Of course, fantasy is also present here, but it is more limited to the background. In total, the collection includes 22 wonderful stories, including “Howler”, “Pedestrian”, “Killer” and other stories. By the way, “Golden Apples of the Sun” is dedicated to the woman who most influenced the writer’s creative path - his Aunt Neva.

Greatest glory Bradbury brought his fantasy, creative and at the same time contemplative, in which he imagined a future world inhabited by Martians with telepathic abilities, book arsonists and sea monsters in love. And this futuristic writer categorically protested against the transfer of his books into electronic form. Maybe, Ray Bradbury he was afraid that such a passion for technology was the first step towards his dystopian future.

On June 5, at the age of 92, the famous American writer and science fiction legend Ray Bradbury died.

American writer, science fiction classic Ray Douglas Bradbury was born on August 22, 1920 in Waukegan (Illinois, USA). His middle name, Douglas, was given in honor of the famous actor Douglas Fairbanks.

Ray Bradbury's grandfather and great-grandfather are descendants of the English pioneers who sailed to America in 1630; at the end of the 19th century they published two Illinois newspapers (in the provinces this meant a certain position in society and fame). Father, Leonard Spaulding Bradbury, was an employee of an electric power company. Mother, Marie Esther Moberg, is of Swedish origin.

In 1934, at the height of the Great Depression, the Bradbury family moved to Los Angeles.

Ray became seriously interested in literature back in school. From the age of 9, he spent all his free time in libraries. He started composing at the age of 12. By the age of 20, he firmly decided that he would become a writer.

At the age of 18, he began selling newspapers on the street - he sold them every day for four years, until his literary work began to bring him more or less regular income.

In 1938, Ray graduated from high school in Los Angeles. He never managed to get into college.

Later, in 1971, his article was published entitled “How I graduated from libraries instead of college, or Thoughts of a teenager who visited the moon in 1932.”

His first story was published in 1941, after which Bradbury began to publish a lot in magazines. The first collection of stories, “Dark Carnival” (1947), was followed by “The Martian Chronicles” (1950) - a chain of short stories connected by a common plot about pragmatic earthlings exploiting and corrupting the idyllic Martians. The novel is a science fiction classic and Bradbury's most famous work.

Then his novel Fahrenheit 451 (1953) was published in the first issues of Playboy magazine. After this, Bradbury's fame grew worldwide. In 1967, the novel was filmed by director Francois Truffaut.

Bradbury's other best-known works include: the poetic novelized autobiography Dandelion Wine (1957), the novels Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962), and Long After Midnight (1977). , “Death is a Lonely Business” (1985), “Graveyard for Lunatics” (1990).

Among his most significant collections: The Illustrated Man (1951), The Golden Apples of the Sun (1953), The October Country (1955), The Cure from melancholy" (A Medicin for Melancholy, 1959), "The Machineries of Joy" (1964), "I sing the electric body!" (I Sing the Body Electric, 1969), Quicker Than the Eye (1996) and The Driving Blind (1997).

Stories constitute the largest part of Bradbury's work.

Bradbury's works are included in more than 800 anthologies. He also owns poetry collections, stories for children, detective stories, and film scripts (a special place is occupied by the script for the film "Moby Dick").

Bradbury acted as the author and host of the television series "The Ray Bradbury Theater", which included 65 mini-films based on the writer's stories. Filming of the series took place from 1985 to 1992.

In 1970, Bradbury wrote an article, “Girls Left, Boys Right—The Dream of Los Angeles,” which was published in the Los Angeles Times. In it, he lamented the fact that American culture does not have the concept of a "central city square", which, in his opinion, makes Paris Paris and serves as a place for family and friend gatherings in Mexican cities.

A few years later, a mutual friend introduced Bradbury to the famous architect Jon Gerde. Over lunch, it turned out that the inspiration for the recently opened Glendale Galleria city mall (Glendale, California) was precisely Bradbury's article.

This lunch marked the beginning of weekly meetings, during which Bradbury and Gerde developed several concepts for Gerde's firm (the Gerde Partnership). From them grew the new city mall Horton Plaza, built in 1985 in San Diego (California) for $140 million. Bradbury formulated the concept for it in his essay “The Aesthetics of Lostness.” During the year, the shopping center was visited by 25 million people. To this day it remains the largest retail outlet in the city.

Bradbury is a recipient of the O'Henry Award, the Benjamin Franklin Award, the American Academy Award, the Anne Radcliffe Award, and the Gandalf Award. In 1988, he was awarded the title of Grand Master, and a year later he received the Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement Award.

In 2000, he was awarded the National Book Award Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contributions to American Literature.

Honorary Doctor of Letters from Whittier College (California).

In 2007, he was awarded a special mention of the Pulitzer Prize for his fruitful career, which has had a great influence on literature.

Bradbury was married to Margaret McClure. They married on September 27, 1947. The first copy of The Martian Chronicles was typed with her hands. This book was dedicated to her. The Bradbury family had 4 daughters. Margaret McClure passed away on November 24, 2003.

The material was prepared based on information from open sources