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[Lady Cop]

Los Angeles (CNN) -- Science fiction author Ray Bradbury, whose imagination yielded classic books such as "Fahrenheit 451," "The Martian Chronicles" and "Something Wicked This Way Comes," has died at 91, his publisher said Wednesday.

Bradbury "died peacefully, last night, in Los Angeles, after a lengthy illness," the HarperCollins statement said.

Bradbury's books and 600 short stories predicted everything from the emergence of ATMs to live broadcasts of fugitive car chases.

"In a career spanning more than seventy years, Ray Bradbury has inspired generations of readers to dream, think, and create," the statement said. "A prolific author of hundreds of short stories and close to fifty books, as well as numerous poems, essays, operas, plays, teleplays, and screenplays, Bradbury was one of the most celebrated writers of our time."

He wrote the screenplay for John Huston's classic film adaptation of "Moby Dick," and was nominated for an Academy Award.

Bradbury adapted 65 of his stories for television's The Ray Bradbury Theater, and won an Emmy for his teleplay of "The Halloween Tree."