Report: Sci-fi author Ray Bradbury dead at 91

The author best known for The Martian Chronicles and Fahrenheit 451 has passed away at 91 years old, according to media reports. No word yet on his cause of death.

"Do what you love and love what you do." That's what sci-fi author Bradbury told an audience during a lecture at Southern California's San Gabriel Valley. Bradbury lived by his motto, throwing himself into writing books and short stories taking advantage of his wild imagination. Bradbury was active in his 90s, churning out books and plays while confined to a wheelchair due to a stroke he suffered. His cause of death hasn't been released. His work ranged from horror to speculative fiction to drama to TV scripts. Bradbury is best known as the man behind Fahrenheit 451, a book often taught in schools: it tells of a dystopian universe where books are set on fire and a lone hero must fight his way past totalitarian armies (451 degrees Fahrenheit, Bradbury was told, was the temperature at which texts went up in flames). He was also the author of The Illustrated Man, The Martian Chronicles, Dandelion Wine, Something Wicked This Way Comes and many more. How was he personally? The AP characterizes him as a dynamic speaker with a booming, distinctive voice, who could also be "be blunt and gruff. But Bradbury was also a gregarious and friendly man, approachable in public and often generous with his time to readers as well as fellow writers." Bradbury's grandson, Danny Karapetian, shared these words with a tech blog about his grandfather's passing: If I had to make any statement, it would be how much I love and miss him, and I look forward to hearing everyone's memories about him. He influenced so many artists, writers, teachers, scientists, and it's always really touching and comforting to hear their stories. Your stories. His legacy lives on in his monumental body of books, film, television and theater, but more importantly, in the minds and hearts of anyone who read him, because to read him was to know him. He was the biggest kid I know. How has Bradbury affected your life? Any fave books?