Ray Bradbury is famous American author and poet.  He is best known for his horror and fantasy novels including “The Martian Chronicles” and “Fahrenheit 451” among many others.  Born in Waukegan, Illinois, Bradbury’s fondness of reading about fiction, fantasy and adventure basically made him the famous writer that he would become.  Below are some facts related to Ray Bradbury:

Fact 1:  Ray Bradbury was only 12 or 13 years old when he knew that he wanted to become a writer.  Being a voracious reader of fantasy books by several authors like L. Frank Baum and Edgar Rice Burroughs among others, the young Bradbury was inspired to become like his author heroes and decided to write his own fictional and fantasy-based novels.

Fact 2:  Ray Bradbury’s career in writing literally started with a joke.  It was said that his first paid writing job was as a contributor of a joke that was used in the “Burns & Allen Show”.  Bradbury was a teenager back then who was living with his parents in the Los Angeles area.

Fact 3:  10 years of Ray Bradbury’s life was spent in the library.  After high school, Bradbury was not able to go to college because of financial difficulties experienced by his parents during the American Depression.  With this dilemma, Bradbury decided to continue learning by spending 3 days a week in libraries for the next 10 years of his life.

Fact 4:  Maggie Bradbury, Ray’s wife was a bookstore clerk.  Apparently, she was the one and only person that Ray Bradbury dated and eventually married.  With his love for reading and writing, it was no surprise that Ray Bradbury found the love of his life in a bookstore.

Fact 5:  Ray Bradbury was afraid of driving.  The famous writer was known to not have a driver’s license and he firmly believed that cars are not fit for any person.  This belief rooted from an experience wherein Bradbury witnessed a car accident at a young age of 16.

Fact 6:  Ray Bradbury also did not like computers that much.  His novels may be about fantasy life or futuristic themes, but the idea of computers did not interest Ray Bradbury.  The famous writer was said to be content with the traditional typewriter and he even thought of the internet as a old-fashioned.

Fact 7:  Only 9 days was what Ray Bradbury needed to write his famous novel “Fahrenheit 451”.  Using a rented typewriter, Bradbury wrote this classic novel in the UCLA library basement, despite not being a student in this prestigious university.

Fact 8:  Ray Bradbury was pals with another famous guy named Walt Disney. Bradbury was even credited for creating the storyline for Spaceship Earth, a famous ride in the EPCOT Center which is part of the Disney Park in Florida.

Fact 9:  Ray Bradbury won an Emmy Award.  Many of his writing work were actually used and/or adapted for television shows and this resulted to an Emmy win for Bradbury.

Fact 10:  Ray Bradbury does not want to be classified as a science-fiction writer.  His books about horror and fantasy are frequently classified under the science-fiction category but the famous writer is quick to point out that real science-fiction deals with depiction of real things while fantasy involves depiction of the unreal.