Jan Young
InstantRiverside.com

Iconic author Ray Bradbury died Tuesday night in Los Angeles at the age of 91.  His death was announced by his daughter, Alexandra, who gave no other details.

Bradbury’s breakthrough came in 1950 with The Martian Chronicles, a collection of science fiction stories.  The Martian Chronicles has since been published in over 30 languages, and was made into a television series.

His next book, the futuristic classic Fahrenheit 451, was released in 1953.  The working title was The Fireman, a story reportedly written at UCLA’s Powell Library on typewriters that rented for 10 cents a half hour.  He said he carried a sack full of dimes to the library and completed the book in nine days, at a final cost of $9.80.  The title was changed to Fahrenheit 451, so named in reference to the temperature at which paper ignites.

Bradbury has been generally classified as a science fiction and fantasy writer, yet he resisted the science fiction reference.  He maintained that his only true science fiction novel was Fahrenheit 451, which he said was based on reality because it could happen.  He described the others as fantasy because it couldn’t happen.

Many of his works have been adapted into television shows or movies.

Bradbury’s writings have been cited as the inspiration of many computer game developers, including Ubisoft Entertainment’s Assassin’s Creed series and Gears of War, developed by People Can Fly.

Bradbury was reportedly a close friend of Charles Addams.  Addams illustrated the first of Bradbury’s stories about the Elliotts, a family that would resemble Addams’ later creation, The Addams Family.

In his honor, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America created The Ray Bradbury Award for screenwriting.

Bradbury is survived by four daughters.  His wife of 56 years, Marguerite, died in 2003.

Filed under Entertainment

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

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