Biographical Sketch of Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury was born on August 22, 1920. Ray Bradbury was born in Waukegan, Illinois and spent his childhood there. Then in 1934 he moved to Los Angeles, California. Ray Bradbury grew up in the Midwest during the Great Depression. His family struggled looking for employment and were not financially stable. 

Ray Bradbury’s father was Leonard Spaulding Bradbury and his mother was Esther Moberg Bradbury. Leonard Spaulding Bradbury was a lineman and Esther Bradbury was a Swedish immigrant who did not work. Ray Bradbury had three siblings in total but two unfortunately died when they were infants. Ray Bradbury had a peaceful childhood which can be displayed in many of his novels. He was influenced by many of the fiction and adventure books he would read as a child. He was also influenced by his Aunty Neva who took Bradbury to plays and encouraged him to be creative. After seeing a performance of a magician called Mr. Electrico, Ray Bradbury began writing stories everyday for several hours.

Ray Bradbury went to Los Angeles High School but did not attend college because he could not afford it. When he went to high school he was a diligent student and participated in the drama and poetry club. (Literary Devices 1). Because Bradburry couldn't go to college he would go to the local library at least three times a day to write.

Ray Bradbury was given multiple awards for his writings. Some of these awards include a Prometheus Award for his novel Fahrenheit 451, he won an Emmy for his play The Halloween, He won the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from the National Book Foundation, and several more (Literary Devices 1).

Ray Bradburry was always an author. He started writing books when he was thirteen years old. Ray Bradbury wanted to imitate his heroes and wanted to live forever through his stories. In his senior year of high school he published his first short story. Ray Bradburry became a full time writer 1943 when he was deemed unfit for the military due to his eyesight (Biography 1).

Multiple celebrities influenced Bradbury in his writing profession. Such as Edgar Allen Poe, H. G. Wells, and Jules Verne. He was influenced by their stories and started to write in their horror style of writing. 

His wife was Marguerite McClure. She helped aid Bradbury while he began his writing career. He married her on September 27, 1947 and later had four children (Biography 1).

Ray Bradbury died on June 5, 2012 from an unrevealed long-term illness. Bradbury was satisfied with his works of science fiction and fantasy. Even though he died, Ray Bradburry will forever live throughout his stories (Biography 1).

Bradbury still is respected and famous today. His novels are still widely popular and are still being read. More than 8 million of his books have been sold! Bradburry was most responsible for popularizing science fiction and fantasy (Jonas 1)