Ray Bradbury died June 5th at age 91. I know him
best for Fahrenheit 451. It was required reading in school.
Here’s a statement from the White House the day after his
death: “For many Americans, the news of Ray Bradbury's death immediately brought to
mind images from his work, imprinted in our minds, often from a young age. His
gift for storytelling reshaped our culture and expanded our world. But Ray also
understood that our imaginations could be used as a tool for better
understanding, a vehicle for change, and an expression of our most cherished
values. There is no doubt that Ray will continue to inspire many more
generations with his writing, and our thoughts and prayers are with his family
and friends.”First novel
In 1949, Bradbury's and his wife were expecting their first child. He took a Greyhound bus to New York and checked into a room at the YMCA for fifty cents a night. He took his short stories to a dozen publishers and no one wanted them. Just before getting ready to go home, Bradbury had dinner with an editor at Doubleday. When Bradbury recounted that everyone wanted a novel and he didn't have one, the editor, coincidentally named Walter Bradbury, asked if there wasn't enough for a book if Bradbury took all his Martian stories and tied them together. The title was the editor's idea, he suggested, "You could call it “The Martian Chronicles.” Bradbury liked the idea and recalled making notes in 1944 to do a book set on Mars. That evening, he stayed up all night at the YMCA and typed out an outline. He took it to the Doubleday editor the next morning, who read it and wrote Bradbury a check for seven hundred and fifty dollars. When Bradbury returned to Los Angeles, he connected all the short stories and that became The Martian Chronicles.
From Wikipedia
