Ray Bradbury: Born August 22, 1920 in Waukegan, Illinois

“Dandelion Wine” was richly inspired by Bradbury’s memories of growing up in 1920s Illinois. Photo credit: electricliterature.com

Today would have been Ray Bradbury’s ninety-fifth birthday. He was born on August 22, 1920 in Waukegan, Illinois. Except for a couple of brief moves to California and Arizona in his childhood, Bradbury spent most of the years from birth to age fourteen in Waukegan before the family permanently relocated to Los Angeles, California. Although Bradbury would remain in Los Angeles the rest of his life, he often returned to the Midwest of his childhood in his fiction, most notably in a number of short stories and his novels Dandelion Wine and Something Wicked This Way Comes.

Ray Bradbury in 1959.

Ray Bradbury’s work cannot be simply classified. Although some of what he wrote was science fiction, other works by him could be described as stories of mystery, the supernatural, or fantasy. He wrote novels, short stories, plays, poetry, essays and works for both television and the screen. He wrote the screenplay for John Huston’s film version of Moby Dick in the 1950s. He died on June 5, 2012.

Ray Bradbury (Photo by and courtesy of Alan Light).

Two of Ray Bradbury’s books will be featured on buckeyemuse this fall—an appropriate time given Bradbury’s often spooky subject matter. Stay tuned!

Patrick Kerin