This document provides a biography and overview of the literary contributions of author Ray Bradbury. It notes that Bradbury was born in 1920 in Illinois and received his education from his local library. He began writing stories and publishing in the 1930s-1940s. Bradbury is best known for works like "Fahrenheit 451" and "The Martian Chronicles" that explore themes of technology, censorship, and dystopian futures. The document summarizes two of Bradbury's short stories, "There Will Come Soft Rains" about an automated house after a nuclear war, and "All Summer in a Day" about children on a rainy planet who lock a girl away on the one day of sunshine every seven years

1. (1920-2012)
RAY BRADBURY
“There are worse crimes than burning books. One
of them is not reading them”
-Ray Bradbury

3. RAY’S BIO:
- Born in Waukegan, IL.
- Grew up in the midst of the depression, and
received all his education from his local library.
- Began writing in high school in L.A.
- Joined a theatre group, but dropped out shortly
after to write.
- Married a local library worker named Maggie,
and had four children.
- Produced short stories, novels, plays, film and
television scripts, and children's books.
- His works are didactic and express fear of the
worlds future.
- His works are often cautionary.
- Takes a very pessimistic stance in his writings.
- -He distrusted science and technology, and
feared a world deriving its substance from
those things.
“Video games are a waste
of time for men with
nothing else to do. Real
brains don’t do that.”
-Ray Bradbury

4. LITERARY CONTRIBUTIONS:
- In 1931, at the age of 11, Ray began to write his
stories on butcher paper.
- At age 17, Ray became a member of the L.A.
Sci-Fi League.
- In 1939 he published his own magazine, “Futura
Fantasia”.
- His first professional piece was called “Pendulum”,
published in 1941.
- Best known for “Fahrenheit 451”, published in
1953, and his sci-fi and horror stories gathered
together as “The Martian Chronicles”
- In 2004, he won the National Medal of Arts.
- In 2007, he won the Pulitzer Prize.

5. - Wrote mainly in the genres of Sci-Fi and
Horror.
- Despite his distaste for television, Ray
wrote many TV and movie scripts.
- Opened up the door to and helped
popularize the genre of Science Fiction.
- As a child, Bradbury decided that he was
going to be a writer so that he could live
forever through his works.
- “Ray is a dooms man where the future is
concerned.” –Donald A. Wolfheim
LITERARY CONTRIBUTIONS:

6. *Taken from “The Martian Chronicles”*
“AUGUST 2026: THERE WILL COME
SOFT RAINS”
Summary:
The story starts by describing a computer
controlled house, which cooks, cleans, and
preforms nearly every task an average
American family does daily. However, it soon
becomes evident that the house is empty.
Bradbury then describes a wall on the outside
of the house, where four silhouettes stand
surrounded by charcoal (suggesting that the
family was incinerated by the intensity of
perhaps a nuclear weapon). The house
continues doing its duties, until a tree limb
burst through the kitchen window and knocks
over a cleaning solvent onto the stove, setting
the entire house ablaze.

7. “ALL SUMMER IN A DAY”
Summary:
9 year old Margot and her family live on the
planet Venus, where the sun shines for 2
days once every 7 years. The story opens on
the day that the sun is to appear once again.
Margot only recently moved to Venus, and
recalls the sun from her life on Earth.
However, her friends are far too young to
remember the sun, and lock her in a closet
for “lying to them about having seen the sun
before”. The sun comes out and Margot’s
friends bathe in it, realizing that Margot
wasn’t lying. Then, the kids remembered
Margot was in the closet. However, it was
too late. Margot now has to wait 7 years to
see the sun again.