Ray Bradbury, August  22nd 1920 - June 6th 2012, was the author of more than 27 novels and story collections and more than 600 short stories. Frequently credited as single handedly having  raised the often maligned reputation of the  science fiction genre into the realm of literature. He himself said that he regarded himself as a writer of fantasies rather than science fiction since his stories dealt with ‘things that can’t happen’ and science fiction with things that can.
Bradbury began contributing to fanzines in 1938, launching his own fanzine, Future Fantasia,  in 1939. He had a story accepted  for Super Science Stories in 1941 and  became a full time writer in1942.
His first collection of short stories, Dark Carnival, was published in 1947
Ray Bradbury’s work has been adapted for comics ( EC), radio, television ( Martian Chronicles adapted as a series), theatre and film - Fahrenheit 451 (1966) The Illustrated Man (1969), Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983)
His imagination, style, humanity, and range has influenced all that came after him. There can scarcely be a contemporary SF or Fantasy writer who does not owe him a debt. Judging from what I heard on the radio today Bradbury was also an inspiration to other kinds of writers.