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June 4 - June 10, 2012 Edition

Ray Bradbury Dies at Age 91

Ray Bradbury, famous for his science-fiction and fantasy tales and his classic novel "Fahrenheit 451," died Tuesday, June 5 at the age of 91.

Among other works for which he was known were the short-story collection, "The Martian Chronicles," Something Wicket This Way Comes," a novel," and "The Illustrated Man," also a short-story collection. He also wrote an autobiographic novel, "Dandelion Wine."

He was born in Waukegan, Ill and later moved with his fami9ly to Los Angeles. Unable to afford college, he educated himself by spending hours at the local libraries. Bradbury wrote his famous Fahrenheit 451 on a rental typewriter in the University of California, Los Angeles library.

His stories were adapted for TV and he co-wrote the script for the 1956 movie, "Moby Dick."

At the Santa Barbara Writers Conference a few years ago, he electrified his audience with an inspiring talk about writing and love. He encouraged his audience to write with joy. “Don’t do it knowing what to do; you should never know what to do. You should feel it.” Ray had opened the conference every year since SBWC was founded in 1972, and had an enormous impact on the thousands of writers who have heard him over the years.

In 2007, Ray was awarded a special distinguished-career citation from the Pulitzer Board. His last lecture for the SBWC is offered at WritersEducation.com