In a career spanning more than seventy years, Ray Bradbury has inspired generations of readers to dream, think, and create. A prolific author of hundreds of short stories and close to fifty books, as well as numerous poems, essays, operas, plays, teleplays, and screenplays, Bradbury was one of the most celebrated writers of our time (2000 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, 2004 National Medal of Arts, 2007 Pulitzer Prize Special Citation). His groundbreaking works include Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, Dandelion Wine, and Something Wicked This Way Comes, and the screen play for John Huston’s classic film adaptation of Moby Dick (nominated for an Academy Award).
Ray Bradbury died on June 5, 2012, at the age of 91 after a long illness. He lived in Los Angeles.He is survived by his four daughters, Susan Nixon, Ramona Ostergren, Bettina Karapetian, and Alexandra Bradbury, and eight grandchildren. His wife, Marguerite, predeceased him in 2003, after fifty-seven years of marriage.
Before his death, Ray had given Daniel and Elizabeth his full and enthusiastic support; they are the first team to have been granted the option to musicalize the work. (pictured: Ray and Daniel in 2009)