To The Stars By Ray Bradbury Essay

, Research Paper

To the Stars

Ray Bradbury was a great writer on many levels. He could write novels, short stories, essays, plays, screenplays, and poetry. An active imagination and a fascination with outer space combine in many of Ray Bradbury?s stories. Ray Bradbury surpassed an unstable childhood to become a world renowned science fiction author.

Ray Bradbury was born on August 22, 1920, in Waukegan, Illinois. He was the third child of Leonard Spaulding Bradbury and Esther Marie Moberg Bradbury. In the fall of 1926, the Bradbury?s moved to Tucson, Arizona, only to return to Waukegan in May of 1927. By 1931, he had begun to write his own short stories on pieces of butcher paper. When his father was laid off in 1932, the family moved down to Tucson and then returned the following year to Waukegan. In 1934, the family found its way out to Los Angeles, California. There the Bradbury?s remained. He graduated from a Los Angeles high school in 1938. He did not further his education by going to college but by going to the library at night and to his typewriter at day. From 1938 to 1942, he sold newspapers on street corners to make money. He gave up selling

papers in 1943 to write full time. In 1947, he married Maguerite McClure. They settled in Los Angeles, California.

Ray Bradbury?s very first publication was ?Hollerbochen?s Dilemma,? printed ion 1938 in Imagination!, an amateur fan magazine. In 1939, Bradbury published four issues of Futuria Fantasia, his own fan magazine, contributing much of the work himself. In 1941, his first paid publication, ?Pendulum? appeared in Super Science Stories. ?The Lake? is the story where Bradbury discovered his unique writing style. In 1947, he compiled some of his best material and published them as Dark Carnival, his first short story collection. Some of his novels include The Martian Chronicles, Fahrenheit 451, and Dandelion Wine.

In his lifetime Bradbury received many awards and honors. In 1945, his short story, ?The Big Black and White Game,? was selected for Best American Short Stories. His works appeared in this compilation in 1946, 1948, and 1952. He was awarded the Benjamin Franklin Award in 1954, the O. Henry Memorial Award, the Aviation Space Writer?s Association Award for best space article in an American magazine, the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement, and the Grandmaster

Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America. His teleplay of The Halloween Tree won an Emmy, and his animated film about the history of flight, Icarus Montgolfier Wright was nominated for an Academy Award. Bradbury was honored in a most unique way when an Apollo astronaut named the Dandelion Crater on the Moon after his novel, Dandelion Wine.

In addition to his literary achievements, Ray Bradbury was the idea consultant and wrote the basic scenario for the United States Pavilion at the New York World?s Fair. He conceived the metaphors for Spaceship Earth, EPCOT, Disney World and contributed to the conception of the Orbitron space ride at Euro-Disney, France. He was also a creative consultant for the Jon Jerde Partnership, the architectural firm that blueprinted the Glendale Galleria, the Westside Pavilion in Los Angeles, and the Horton Plaza in San Diego.

Bradbury overcame many incidents to become an important science fiction writer. His extensive imagination allowed him to cover many areas of art and literature.

Bibliography

“Bradbury, Ray (Douglas),” Microsoft? Encarta? Online Encyclopedia 2000

http://encarta.msn.com ? 1997-2000 Microsoft Corporation.