Ray Bradbury
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short profile
primary works
short stories
movies, TV & video, other media
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       Raymond Douglas Bradbury was born 22 August 1920 in the small town of Waukegan, Illinois. He started writing daily at the age of twelve. His family moved to Los Angeles in 1934, where Ray spent time around Hollywood and in the Downtown Library. He became lifelong pals with later sci-fi editor & collector Forrest J. Ackerman [1916-2008] and later stop-motion animation wizard Ray Harryhausen; they often met at Clifton's Cafeteria in Downtown L.A. even far into adulthood.
       Ray graduated from Los Angeles High School in 1938, sold his first story in 1941, and became a full-time writer in 1943. He married Marguerite 'Maggie' McClure on 27 September 1947; they raised four daughters: Susan, Ramona, Bettina & Alexandra, with grandchildren & great-grandchildren since. His wife died in late 2003, after 56 years of marriage.
       Ray suffered a stroke in November 1999, and began using a wheelchair; but he still generated boundless enthusiasm for life and for writing: He had several books published each year thereafter, with several more scheduled for publication.
       While scifi great Isaac Asimov is known for his limitless intelligence, and Arthur C. Clarke for his vision, Ray was a child turned loose with a pen: He thought and spoke like a child, free to visit love and grace and nameless fears and the ever-presence of death. Ray Bradbury was the Poet Laureate of the science fiction & fantasy world.
       Awards given to Ray included: the O. Henry Memorial Award [1947 & 1948], the Benjamin Franklin Award [1954], the Aviation-Space Writers Association Award [1968], the World Fantasy Award [1977], the Balrog Award [1979], the Jules Verne Award [1984], the Prometheus Award [1984], the Nebula Grand Master Award [1988], the Bram Stoker Award [1989], the Los Angeles (California) Citizen of the Year Award [1995], and the National Book Award [Nov 2000]. He was inducted into the original Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 1970, and into the revised/modern Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 1999. In 2000, the National Book Foundation awarded him its Distinguished Contribution To American Letters Award; in December 2007, France awarded him the Commandeur Ordre des Arts et des Lettres medal.
       Ray Bradbury died in Los Angeles, California on 5 June 2012 at age 91.
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'Ray Bradbury Branch Library'
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"The  Martian  Chronicles"  [1950 bestseller]
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Bantam pb [7/94] for $5.85 Avon hardcover [2/97] for $12.80 Chivers UNABR audio [3/86] 6 tapes for $44.98 Chivers Audio [3/97] for $56.94 BooksOnTape audio [9/87] out of stock/used |
  | interactive "Martian Chronicles" video game
S&S CD-ROM for Windows PCs [1/97] for $39.99 S&S CD-ROM for Apple/Mac PCs [5/96] for $39.99 |
  | 1979 tv mini-series Directed by Michael Anderson; script by Richard Matheson Republic VHS video [7/98] 5 episodes out of prodn/used Anchor Bay color VHS [10/95] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb |
    "Fahrenheit 451: A Novel"
[book 1953, PlayboyMagazine serial 1954]
"Fahrenheit 451" TV movie [H.B.O. Films for May 2018?] 
  | Announced for 2007 release, then for 2012 release as a Castle Rock / Frank Darabont project; UPDATE 4/2017: H.B.O. Films will adapt Ray Bradbury’s classic novel "Fahrenheit 451" starring Michael B. Jordan & Michael Shannon, with Ramin Bahrani attached to co-write & direct the film; filming began in July 2017
in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada • Co-produced by Ramin Bahrani, Michael B. Jordan, and others; co-written by Amir Naderi; starring Michael Shannon, Michael B. Jordan, Sofia Boutella, Lilly Singh, Laura Harrier, Grace Lynn Kung, Saad Siddiqui, Jane Moffat, Marissa Kate Wilson, Aimee Lenihan, Kylie Lenihan, Alison Smiley
DVD/Blu-ray not yet available • latest info at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia watch official trailers online at YouTube: 2/2018 official teaser #1 [1:12] • 4/2018 trailer #2 [2:11] |
"Dandelion  Wine:  A  Novel"
  | "Dandelion Wine" [1957] Bradbury's classic tale of the Magical Summer of 1928 in Greentown, Illinois begins with 12-year-old Douglas Spaulding's new pair of sneakers . . . Bantam Spectra pb [4/85] for $7.99 Avon hardcover [2/99] for $12.91 |
  | "Farewell Summer: A Novel" [2006] The publisher thought that "Dandelion Wine" was too long, so the second half was removed; this sequel restores the continuation of Douglas Spaulding's journey toward adulthood. Harper mass pb [10/2007] for $7.99 Wm. Morrow 8½x5½ hardcover [10/2006] for $16.47 |
Announced 8/2011: Mike Medavoy & Doug McKay of Phoenix Pictures will produce a feature film adaptation of
Bradbury’s classic 1957 novel “Dandelion Wine”. R.G.I. Productions is also signed, with Natasha Shliapnikoff as
producer and Rodion Nahapetov as screenwriter • latest info at IMDb
Ray Bradbury's  Other  Novels
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"Now and Forever: Somewhere A Band Is Playing and Leviathan '99" [2 novellas 2007] Harper mass pb [8/2008] for $7.99 Wm. Morrow 8½x5½ hardcover [9/2007] for $16.47 |
  | "Let's All Kill Constance" [2003] "Bradbury's depiction of Hollywood as its first great glory begins to deteriorate effectively recaptures the past ... and he does so with more belly-[laugh]ing humor than nostalgia." — Paula Friedman, Los Angeles Times Avon mass pb [12/2003] for $7.50 Wm. Morrow 8½x5¾ hardcover [12/2002] out of print/dozens used |
  | "From The Dust Returned: A Family Remembrance" [2001] Connected short stories: the Eternal Family is on the brink of a reunion on Hallowe'en, and foundling (mortal) son Timothy is told the stories of its members. Announced 5/2012: Major motion picture from M.G.M. (see Movies Section) Avon pb [9/2002] for $7.99 Wm. Morrow 8¾x6¾ hardcover [10/2001] out of print/dozens used Harper ABR audio read by Ray Bradbury [10/2001] out of print/many used |
  | "Green Shadows, White Whale: A Novel of Ray Bradbury's Adventures Making Moby Dick With John Huston In Ireland" [1992]
Harper Perennial 8x5¼ pb [9/98] for $13.99 Spectra mass pb [7/93] out of print/used Knopf 8¾x6 hardcover [5/92] out of print/many used see also Magic Lantern Bookstore's John Huston Page and-or
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  | "A Graveyard For Lunatics: Another Tale of Two Cities" [1990] An all-night party in a Hollywood cemetery next door to a movie studio turns deadly . . . Harper Perennial 8x5½ pb [6/2001] for $11.38 Knopf 8½x5¼ hardcover [7/90] out of print/100+ used |
  | "Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed" [1990]
New Readers Press pb [6/90] for $4.75 Econoclad YA hardcover [10/99] for $11.05 DH Audio cassette [12/94] out of stock/used |
  | "Death Is A Lonely Business" [1985]
Avon 8x5¼ pb [3/99] for $9.60 EconoClad YA hardcover [10/99] for $20.30 BooksOnTape audio [8/90] for $24.00 |
  | "Something Wicked This Way Comes" [1962]
Avon pb [3/98] for $6.99 Avon 7¼x5¼ hardcover [6/99] for $11.17 Illustrated edition, by J. K. Potter & V. Tony Hauser
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  | 1983 movie directed by Jack Clayton Starring Jason Robards jr & Jonathan Pryce Anchor Bay VHS video [6/2000] for $9.99 Anchor Bay letterbox VHS video [9/99] for $13.99 Anchor Bay letterbox DVD [9/99] for $21.49 new Robert Zemeckis project, script by Laeta Kalogridis no entry yet on IMDb [Oct 2003] |
  | "The Halloween Tree" [1972] Illustrated by Joseph Mugnaini Knopf YA pb [9/99] for $4.49 Knopf hardcover [10/88] out of stock/used 1993 Cartoon Network program Hanna-Barbera VHS video [9/96] for $13.99 |
Quotations  from Chairman  Ray
The thing is to be madly, madly in love all the time.
Make haste to live. Oh, God, yes. Live. And write. With great haste. People on a jet have only been on a trip; people on a train have been on a journey. I can't name a writer who's had a more perfect life. My books are all in print, A book is a loaded gun. Those who don't build must burn. Stuff your eyes with wonder, live as though you'll drop dead in 10 seconds. |
Works  About  Ray  Bradbury
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"Ray Bradbury" critical essays & bibliography [1980] Edited by Martin H. Greenberg & Joseph D. Olander Taplinger 8¼x5½ pb [1980] out of print/used Taplinger hardcover [1980] out of print/used |
  | "The Bradbury Chronicles: Stories In Honor of Ray Bradbury" [22 stories, 1991] Edited by William F. Nolan & Martin H. Greenberg contributors include: Isaac Asimov (tribute); Gregory Benford ('Centigrade 233'); Orson Scott Card; Norman Corwin ('The Muse'); Bruce Francis; Ed Gorman; Charles L. Grant; James Kisner; Roberta Lannes; Richard Matheson; F. Paul Wilson; and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro; as well as Bradbury himself Roc 8½x5½ pb [12/92] out of print/many used N.A.L./Roc 9x6 hardcover [11/91] out of print/many used |
  | "Ray Bradbury and The Poetics of Reverie: Gaston Bachelard, Wolfgang Iser & The Reader's Response To Fantastic Literature" [1997] by William F. Touponce
Borgo Press 8¼x5¼ pb [11/97] out of print/rare Borgo/Millefleurs hardcover [11/97] out of print/rare |
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"Ray Bradbury: An American Icon" [47-minute documentary 1992] Directed by Robert Duncan Monterey Home Video VHS [9/97] for $21.99 |
  | "Bradbury: An Illustrated Life - A Journey To Far Metaphor" [2002] by Jerry Weist; intro by Ray Bradbury Wm. Morrow {bargain priced} hardcover [10/2002] for $9.99 Wm. Morrow hardcover [10/2002] out of print/used |
  | "Ray Bradbury: The Life of Fiction" [2004] by Jonathan R. Eller & William F. Touponce Kent State Univ Press 9½x6¼ hardcover [6/2004] for $23.12 |
  | "Conversations With Ray Bradbury" [2004] Edited by Steven L. Aggelis Univ Press of MS 9x6 pb [6/2004] for $14.00 Univ Press of MS 9¼x6¼ hardcover [6/2004] for $48.00 |
  | "The Bradbury Chronicles: The Life of Ray Bradbury" [2005] by Sam Weller Harper Perennial 7¾x5¼ pb [2/2006] for $12.44 Wm. Morrow 9½x6¾ hardcover [4/2005] for $20.48 |
  | "Bradbury Speaks: Too Soon From The Cave, Too Far From The Stars" [2005] Essays by Ray Bradbury Harper Perennial 8¼x5¼ pb [8/2006] for $11.66 Wm. Morrow 9&fracx5½ hardcover [8/2005] out of print/many used |
  | "Conversations With The Great Moviemakers of Hollywood's Golden Age: At The American Film Institute" [2006] by George Stevens, Jr.
Knopf 9½x6½ hardcover [2/2006] for $23.10 interviews with 32 major writers, directors & cinematographers, including Ingmar Bergman, writer Ray Bradbury, Richard Brooks, Frank Capra, William Clothier, Stanley Cortez, George Cukor, Federico Fellini, George Folsey, Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock, James Wong Howe, John Huston, Elia Kazan, Gene Kelly, Stanley Kramer, Fritz Lang, David Lean, Ernest Lehman, Mervyn LeRoy, Harold Lloyd, Rouben Mamoulian, Satyajit Ray, Jean Renoir, George Stevens, King Vidor, Hal Wallis, Raoul Walsh, Billy Wilder, Robert Wise, William Wyler & Fred Zinnemann |
"Conversations With Ray Bradbury" [6/2004] Edited by Steven L. Aggelis
http://www.amazon.com/Conversations-Ray-Bradbury-Literary/dp/1578066417/
"The Bradbury Chronicles: The Life of Ray Bradbury" [4/2005] by Sam Weller
http://www.amazon.com/The-Bradbury-Chronicles-Life-P-S/dp/0060545844/
"Bradbury Speaks: Too Soon From The Cave, Too Far From The Stars" [essays 7/2005] by Ray Bradbury
http://www.amazon.com/Bradbury-Speaks-Soon-Cave-Stars/dp/B000GG4LSA/
"Classic Storytellers: Ray Bradbury" [YA 4/2006] by Michele Griskey
http://www.amazon.com/Bradbury-Classic-Storytellers-Michele-Griskey/dp/1584154551/
"Ray Bradbury Uncensored! the Unauthorized Biography" [7/2006] by Gene Beley
http://www.amazon.com/Ray-Bradbury-Uncensored-Unauthorized-Biography/dp/059537364X/
"Listen To The Echoes: The Ray Bradbury Interviews" [6/2010] by Sam Weller
http://www.amazon.com/Listen-Echoes-The-Bradbury-Interviews/dp/1935554034/
"Becoming Ray Bradbury" [8/2011] by Jonathan R. Eller
http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Ray-Bradbury-Jonathan-Eller/dp/0252036298/
Image  Gallery
       
Friends  &  Family
Raymond Douglas Bradbury was born in August 1920 in Waukegan, Illinois; he sold his first story in 1941, and became a full-time writer in 1943;
he suffered a stroke in November 1999, and died in Los Angeles, California in June 2012 at age 91.
wife Marguerite 'Maggie' McClure Bradbury [d. 2003] - married September 1947
they raised four daughters: Susan, Ramona, Bettina & Alexandra, with grandchildren & great-grandchildren since
lifelong pal sci-fi editor & collector Forrest J. Ackerman [1916-2008]
lifelong pal SFX wizard Ray Harryhausen [1920-2013]
L i n k s
Ray Bradbury pages at Wikipedia
a thorough bibliography on CyberSpace Spinner
browse the Ray Bradbury Store at Amazon
'Salon' interview by James Hibberd [Aug 2001]
1991 'Quantum Review' interview with Ray
One Book One City, Los Angeles (March 2002): "Fahrenheit 451"
Star #2193 of 'Hollywood Walk of Fame' at 6644 Hollywood Blvd. (ceremony 1 April 2002)
Official Website at HarperCollins
Chris & Kevin's 'RB Online' site
Text of Ray's Speech at Cal Tech Commencement 2000
CJ's Bradbury fansite
detailed bibliography {up to 2002, no stageplays}
here on the Ray Bradbury [1920-2012] Pages at Spirit of America Bookstore
here on Page One: top of page • Profile • Novels | Works About Ray • Links
on Page Two: top of page • Short Stories • Poetry • Other Works
on Page Three: top of page • Movies, TV & Video • Plays & Operas • Audio & eBooks
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