Millions of American children knew him only by the fascinating tales he wove. His stories have been required reading in schools across the United States. Now Ray Bradbury has died – perhaps to explore another new unknown world. The author's spokesman, agent Michael Congdon, confirmed his client's death Tuesday in Los Angeles.
Bradbury received a Pulitzer citation in 2007 “for his distinguished, prolific and deeply influential career as an unmatched author of science fiction and fantasy.” More than eight million copies of his books have been sold around the world in 36 different languages.
His first big success came in 1947 at the hands of a young editor – Truman Capote – in Mademoiselle Magazine, with the publication of his short story “Homecoming.” The story was a narration by a “normal” young boy without powers who felt like an outsider at a family reunion of witches, vampires and werewolves.
The story also appeared in Bradbury's first book, a collection of short stories called “Dark Carnival,” published in 1947. It was during that same period – from 1946 to 1950, that he wrote the pieces later published in “The Illustrated Man” and “The Martian Chronicles.”
Bradbury's most famous book was the novel “Farenheit 451,” which portrayed a book-burning America of the future. The title is a reference to the temperature at which the paper ignites, lit by the central character, a “fireman.”
Bradbury lived in Los Angeles with his wife Marguerite (who died in 2003) in the same house for more than 50 years, and raised four daughters. Bradbury never learned to drive a car, almost never agreed to fly on a plane, and preferred to travel by train.
He is survived by daughters Alexandra Bradbury, Susan Nixon, Bettina Karapetian and Ramona Ostergen, as well as eight grandchildren.