Ray Bradbury was just 14 when he scored his first writing gig. It wasn’t paid, but while kids his age were doing paper rounds, he was writing for George Burns and Gracie Allen’s radio show. Still, those other kids were also busy getting life experience. Meanwhile, poor old Ray didn’t have the courage to ask a girl out until age 25.

Besides writing for radio shows and dating a bookstore clerk named Maggie, Bradbury went on to become one of the most celebrated American writers; his works spanned fantasy, sci-fi, horror and mystery. So it’s fitting that he wanted his ashes to be sent to Mars in a tomato soup can. But, in the end, he opted for something more down-to-earth: a headstone with his name and  “Author of Fahrenheit 451.”