'FAHRENHEIT 451' AUTHOR RAY BRADBURY BORN
Waukegan, Illinois (JFK+50) On August 22, 1920, Ray Bradbury*, author of fantasy novels, science fiction, mysteries, poetry and screenplays, was born in the Chicago suburb of Waukegan.
Mr. Bradbury's most acclaimed novel is 'Fahrenheit 451'** published in 1953. His writings were influenced by H.G. Wells and Jules Verne. Ray's first published story came in 1938 and he began writing full time at age 24.
Ray Bradbury did not attend college or university. He grew up during the Great Depression so his family did not have the funds to send him to college. He said...
"Libraries raised me. I don't believe in colleges and universities. I couldn't go to college, so I went to the library."
He added...
"You can't learn to write in college. It is a very bad place for writers because the teachers always think they know more than you do...and they don't."
*Ray Douglas Bradbury (1920-2012) moved with his family to Los Angeles at age 14. He was educated at Los Angeles High School. His writings included The Martian Chronicles & Something Wicked This Way Comes. He won the National Medal of Arts (2004) & a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation (2007).
**Fahrenheit 451 (1953) is a novel about a future American society where books are outlawed and 'firemen' burn any that are found. 451 degrees F. is the temperature at which book paper catches fire.
SOURCE
"A Week to Remember: Ray Bradbury," by Keith Chaffee, August 17, 2020, Los Angeles Public Library, www.lapl.org/
Ray Bradbury (1975)
Photo by Alan Light
