NYCon 1939
This chapter focuses on Ray Bradbury's travel to New York City in 1939 to attend the WorldCon, or NYCon I. Early in 1938 Bradbury wrote an editor's introduction for his version of Imagination! ('Madge), the newsletter of Science Fiction League's Los Angeles chapter. Although this document never reached print, it provides a snapshot of Bradbury's earliest serious attempt at editing and publishing. Bradbury offered up two of his own unpublished stories: “Alba of Alnitak” and “The Road to Autumn's House.” After high school, Bradbury focused on occasional contributions to various fanzines. This chapter discusses Bradbury's participation in NYCon, the first worldwide gathering of science fiction fans and writers in New York which also provided an opportunity for the West Coast fans to see the World Fair. It also considers Bradbury's fascination with John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and how Steinbeck's interchapter bridging structure influenced his own Martian Chronicles.