Ray Douglas Bradbury, one of the most dominant figures in American literature during the last seven decades, died June 5 in California at the age of 91. A child of the Depression era, Bradbury's "universities" were the public libraries in his hometown of Waukegan, Illinois and those in the Los Angeles area to which the family moved during Ray's teenage years.
Although largely associated with science fiction, Ray Bradbury once informed a 1976 radio interviewer that he had only written one work of "pure" sci-fi. That was his now classic 1953 novel "Fahrenheit 451" in which Bradbury's vision of a world overrun by censorship coincided with then current scientific fact including the temperature at which paper burns. Bradbury's work in short story, novella and novel form spanned the realms of fantasy, horror, mystery and areas to which critics have yet to attach a genre label.
Francois Truffaut's 1966 film treatment of "Fahrenheit 451" starring Julie Christie is available in Merrick Library's DVD collection. So is the 1956 movie version of Herman Melville's "Moby Dick" to which Ray Bradbury wrote the screnplay. Directed by John Huston, "Moby Dick" stars Gregory Peck as Captain Ahab.
In addition to "Fahrenheit 451," Merrick Library also has the following written works of Ray Bradbury:
The Cat's Pajamas (short stories)
Driving Blind
Farewell Summer
From the Dust Returned: A Family Remembrance
Let's All Kill Constance
The Martian Chronicles (in Young Adult collection)
Now and Forever: Somewhere A Band is Playing and Leviathan 99 (novellas)
One More For the Road: A New Short Story Collection
Quicker Than the Eye
Summer Morning, Summer Night
We'll Always Have Paris (short stories)
Zen and the Art of Writing (non-fiction)
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