Ray Bradbury is often credited with elevating science fiction into the modern literary mainstream. Bradbury was born in 1920 in Waukegan, Illinois, and his family shuffled between the Midwest and Arizona before settling in Los Angeles. As a teenager, he pursued his love of literature more seriously, befriending science-fiction writers, submitting stories to magazines, and even publishing his own short-lived fanzine, Future Fantasia. In 1947, with a few published pieces under his belt, Bradbury submitted his short story “Homecoming” to Mademoiselle magazine. Legend has it that Truman Capote, himself a Mademoiselle favorite at the time, championed its publication. The piece went on to win a spot in the O. Henry Award Stories of 1947.

Bradbury got his biggest break in 1950 with The Martian Chronicles collection, and just three years later, he released his most famous and enduring book, Fahrenheit 451 (1953). A dystopian masterpiece examining censorship and free thought, the book, along with Bradbury’s oeuvre across genres and his plays and screenplays, helped define science fiction. Bradbury received many accolades in his career, including the 2004 National Medal of Arts and a 2007 Pulitzer Prize Special Citation before his death in 2012 at age 91.