 This has caused speculation that this short story is actually referring to himself, or is in some related way a message to his home town of Waukegan, Illinois.The 60th anniversary edition of "Fahrenheit 451" contains the short piece "The Story of "Fahrenheit 451"" by Jonathan R. Eller.In it, Eller writes that Bradbury's inspiration for the story came when he was walking down Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles with a friend some time in late 1949.