RAY BRADBURY HONORED AS FIRST RECIPIENT OF
ROSS MACDONALD LITERARY AWARD



Santa Barbara, California � In recognition of his long and illustrious writing career, the distinguished novelist/screenwriter/playwright Ray Bradbury, author of such classics as Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles, has been selected as the recipient of the first Ross Macdonald Literary Award by the Santa Barbara Book Council.

This annual award �recognizes a body of work by a California writer that raises the standard of literary excellence.� The award is named for Ross Macdonald (pseudonym of Ken Millar), the noted Santa Barbara author who, in the words of Robert B. Parker, �In his craft and his integrity, made the detective form a vehicle for high seriousness. In fact, he transcended the form to become a major American novelist.� The award was presented to Bradbury by Harris Seed; executor of Ross Macdonald�s estate and Tom Nolan, Macdonald�s biographer, during the recent Santa Barbara Book & Author Festival on September 28, 2002.

Bradbury graciously accepted the award, an engraved crystal book, and acknowledged his deep affection for Ross Macdonald and his body of work. Bradbury also noted his fondness for Santa Barbara since he spent his honeymoon here some 55 years ago�at the start of his prolific writing career.

The Santa Barbara Book & Author Festival is held annually each September as the showcase event of the Santa Barbara Book Council. This all-volunteer Council receives non-profit support from the New Directions Foundation, the Santa Barbara County Arts Commission and many fine local businesses and individuals. The 2002 fourth annual Festival attracted over 2500 attendees, 70 authors speaking/reading and 55 exhibit booths.

Members of the Council created the Ross Macdonald Literary Award to recognize and reward California authors who inspire ideas and critical expression. Chair Debra Park noted that, �The selection of Ray Bradbury was difficult, yet simplified by his distinguished, multi-faceted career that spans generations. We are thrilled to honor him with this first award.�

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I hadn't heard of this. Thanks for posting it.

Talking about Santa Barbara ::::::::

Every year Ray is a Keynote Speaker at the Santa Barbara Writer's Conference.........
.......2003 will be no exception.

Even tho it is a weeklong writer's conference, one can sign up for an evening lecture only, nominally priced.

Find out getting info for June, 2003 event, and while you are there, check out photo of Ray at the 2002 event, specifically Saturday, June 22nd, 2002.
Click on: www.sbwc-online.com/

It's good to see Ray getting some more well deserved respect. Thanks for posting this.

I re-visited this post from 2002, and I thought I would post a picture of the Ross Macdonald Literary Award that Ray Bradbury received in 2002 from the Santa Barbara Book Council. I was lucky enough to be the winning bidder for this award when it was auctioned off as part of his estate a few years ago. The Award reads: "The Ross Macdonald Literary Award. To A California Writer Who Has Raised the Standard of Literary Excellence. Presented to Ray Bradbury from the Santa Barbara Book Council. 2002."

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Attached below is another photo of an award given to Ray Bradbury, which I was fortunate enough to be able to purchase as part of the sale of his estate. The award reads as follows: "Presented to Ray Bradbury. Whose Soaring Flights of Creative Imagination Are Grounded in Wisdom and Reality. By University Women of the University of Judaism. June 9, 1987."

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