Ray Bradbury

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American writer of sci-fi and fantasy, one of the best known and admired in the field. His professional debut, in collaboration with H. Hasse, was "The Pendulum," 1941. His first solo publication was "The Piper," 1943, but it could be said that he had "arrived" by 1946. His plots are essentially simple, in which his power of writing sustains complete interest. He won two important literary prizes in 1954, the Grand Master Nebula Award in 1988, the Writer's Guild Award in 1974 and the Silver Award on 1/19/1997. A scriptwriter in Hollywood in the 1970s, he tried his hand as a playwright-producer for a while. By 1997, Bradbury had credits of over 50 books and dozens of short stories, with various films made of his work. Bradbury collects things - books, toys, antiques, auto parts and literally anything that he can get his hands on, all of it going into the bric-a-brac chaos that he calls his office. During lecture tours he has cris-crossed the country by train inasmuch as he never flies, and has never learned to drive a car. Railroad timetables are stacked in his office, suggesting a story to him as does every other item of his odd flea-market of junk. (He declares that he will only ride in a car if he can cower in the back seat.) Perhaps it is his amiable wit as well as his grasp of the fascination of the odd and macabre that makes him so beloved a writer of the genre. Bradbury lives with his wife in Cheviot Hills, CA. As a kid, he went to movies as often as possible, and as an adult, still enjoys watching his favorites over and over. In a lecture, he recommended, "If you want to be a writer, write 400 short stories. I guarantee nobody can write 400 bad short stories." Along with other important literary prizes that began coming in by 1954, Bradbury has been awarded the Grand Master Nebula Award, 1988, the Writer's Guild Award, 1974 and the Silver Award 1/19/1997. On 11/06/1999, Bradbury had a small stroke while traveling with his wife, Maggie, to Palm Springs. He went into a Los Angeles hospital and then to recovery at home. Bradbury died following a long illness in Los Angeles on 5 June 2012. Link to Wikipedia biography