Profile of the Day: Ray Bradbury

On this day in 1920, author Ray Bradbury was born.

Image: Ray Bradbury / Alan Light, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

Bradbury was born on August 22, 1920 in Waukegan, Illinois to Esther Moberg, a Swedish immigrant, and Leonard Spaulding Bradbury, a power and telephone lineman of English descent. Bradbury began writing his own stories as a child. During the Great Depression, he would sometimes use butcher paper to compose his works.

It was his gift for storytelling that helped bring science fiction to mainstream audiences and make him one of the most celebrated authors of the 20th century. Some of his best known works include the novel Fahrenheit 451 and his shorty story collection The Martian Chronicles.

Did you know his 7th great grandmother Mary Bradbury was tried and convicted as a witch during the Salem Witch Trials? She was sentenced to be hanged, but manage to evade her sentence until the trials had been discredited.

Explore Ray Bradbury’s family tree on Geni and share how you’re connected to the author.