Ray Bradbury,
a master of science fiction whose imaginative and lyrical evocations of
the future reflected both the optimism and the anxieties of his own
postwar America, died on Tuesday in Los Angeles. He was 91.
His death was confirmed by his agent, Michael Congdon.
By many estimations Mr. Bradbury was the writer most responsible for
bringing modern science fiction into the literary mainstream. His name
would appear near the top of any list of major science fiction writers
of the 20th century, beside those of
Isaac Asimov,
Arthur C. Clarke,
Robert A. Heinlein and the Polish author
Stanislaw Lem.
His books are still being taught in schools, where many a reader has
been introduced to them half a century after they first appeared. Many
readers have said Mr. Bradbury’s stories fired their own imaginations.
More than eight million copies of his books have been sold in 36
languages. They include the short-story collections “The Martian
Chronicles,” “The Illustrated Man” and “The Golden Apples of the Sun,”
and the novels “Fahrenheit 451” and “Something Wicked This Way Comes.”
Jonas, Gerald. "Brought Mars to Earth With a Lyrical Mastery". NYTimes.com. The New York Times. 6 June 2012. Web. 7 June 2012.