All librarians and bibliophiles attending the ALA Annual Convention in Anaheim next week are cordially invited to stop by UCLA Library Special Collections to view a mini-exhibit in honor of Ray Bradbury, Los Angeles sci fi and fantasy author, and lifetime lover of libraries, who passed away June 5, 2012.
Although Bradbury was born in Waukegan, Illinois, he came to Los Angeles with his family as a young boy during the Depression, and never left. After graduating from Los Angeles High School, he went to work selling newspapers, and educated himself by reading in libraries around the city. It was in the basement of Powell Library on the UCLA campus that he rented a typewriter—at a rate of 10 cents per half hour — and pecked out the short story “The Fireman,” which he later expanded as Fahrenheit 451.
On display are first editions of some of his best known works, The Martian Chronicles, and Fahrenheit 451, some of his early short stories, including “The Fireman” (1951), his typescript manuscript of the Chronicles, and his typescript screenplay and stills from the John Huston film, Moby Dick (1956).
Library Special Collections is located in the Charles E. Young Research Library on the UCLA campus, just off Sunset Boulevard, at Hilgard Avenue. Please stop by!
Wow. I had no idea that Bradbury wrote in the Powell Library. That’s very cool.