Ray BradburyRay Bradbury was born on August 22, 1920. He was the third son of Leonard Spaulding Bradbury (a telephone lineman for Waukegan Bureau of Power & Light [Wolfe 62, http://www. brookingsbook. com/bradbury/biography.htm]) and Esther Marie Bradbury (a Swedish immigrant [Snodgrass 73]). Ray lived in Waukegan, Illinois, for six years, until his family moved to Tucson, Arizona, in 1926. (http://www.brookingsbook.com/bradbury/biography.htm. When Ray Bradbury was eleven , wrote stories about butchers.(http://www.brookingsbook.com/bradbury/biography.htm) Ray was very interested in science fiction, horror films, books, comics, and magic acts (Snodgrass 73) At age 12, Ray was reading a newspaper the headline read "The World Would End Tomorrow" (Tucson 1932) Young Ray was excited about this event, so he and his brother packed lunch and camped on a ridge to see the end. They waited for a while and nothing happened, he and his brother left the ridge and returned home From that moment on, Ray swore to separate himself from religion Because he doesn't like a god who likes to see his people running around. pseudo-terror In 1932, after his father, Leonard Spaulding Bradbury, was fired due to depression, his family moved to Los Angeles, California. (http://www.brookingsbook.com/bradbury/biography.htm) In 1935, at the age of fifteen, Ray continued to write stories. He occasionally sent them to national magazines for printing. (Wolfe 63) None of his works, at this time, were printed. Although his work was never published, this did not distract him from his love of science fiction. With that, he joined the Los Angeles Science-Fiction Society. (Snodgrass 73) Later that same year, Ray printed his own magazine called Futura Fantasia. Futura Fantasia consisted only of the work of Ray Bradbury. The magazine lasted only four issues. (Snodgrass 73)In 1938, Ray Bradbury finished high school at Los Angeles High School in Los Angeles, California. (McNelly 918) After nearly four years of trying to publish one of these stories, Ray printed his first work with Imagination! Magazine and the story titled The Hollerbochen Dilemma. (http://www.brookingsbook.com/bradbury/biography.htm) This was a big break for Ray. Some of Ray's influences were "...the magical land of Oz by L. Frank Baum, the never-never Africa of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan of the Apes, and Barsoom, by Burroughs' "impossible, romantic Mars.. .". (McNelly 918) But even with these writers, his greatest influence was not that of a writer, but of a passing circus magician act.