RAY BRADBURY (1920-2012) was for decades the world's most
preeminent authors of science fiction and fantasy, acclaimed for such renowned titles as
Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles. He began writing quite young, selling jokes
to radio comedian George Burns when he was 14, and publishing his first short story--to
Imagination magazine--when he was 18. He would go on to write not only seminal sci-fi,
but numerous other kinds of books, as well as numerous television and movie
screenplays, such as for TV's Twilight Zone and John Huston's Moby Dick. When he
died in 2012, President Obama said, "His gift for storytelling reshaped our culture and
expanded our world."
