The Veldt: Ray Bradbury [graphic graphicname="TIF00030721" orient="portrait" size="A"]

Ray Bradbury was born on August 22, 1920 in Waukegan, Illinois to Esther Moberg and Leonard Spaulding Bradbury. The family moved often during Ray's childhood. From 1926 to 1933 they moved back and forth from Arizona twice. Finally, in 1934, they settled permanently in Los Angeles. Bradbury attended Los Angeles High School, where he developed a true love for writing. He joined the Los Angeles Science Fiction League and became active in the "fandom" subculture in which groups of science fiction fans would publish their own magazines known as "fanzines." In 1939, Bradbury produced four issues of his own fanzine, Futuria Fantasia.

Bradbury graduated from high school in 1938 but lived with his parents while continuing to write. He began trying to sell his short stories to science fiction pulp magazines and was successful in 1941 when his first paid publication, a short...