AUTHOR AIDS HIS MENTOR.

Byline: Jesse Hiestand Staff Writer

If not for ``Dr. Acula,'' legendary science fiction author Ray Bradbury testified Monday he might never have penned such classics as ``The Martian Chronicles'' and ``Fahrenheit 451.''

Bradbury said he was 17 when he met Forrest J. Ackerman - later known as ``Dr. Acula'' - who invited him to join a group of science fiction devotees at Clifton's Cafeteria in downtown Los Angeles.

``I wouldn't be sitting here today if I didn't meet him when I was in high school in 1937. I was a man who was a writer but had no place to go,'' Bradbury told the Van Nuys Superior Court jury.

Despite a recent illness, Bradbury made his way by wheelchair into the courtroom to testify on behalf of Ackerman, who is suing a former employer for trademark infringement and defamation. The civil suit centers on the cult magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland, which Ackerman edited from 1958 to 1982, signing editorials as ``Dr. Acula.''

Ackerman seeks to defend his legacy as the real ``Dr. Acula,'' but the magazine's new owner, Ray Ferry of North Hills, has insisted he owns all of the magazine's trademark phrases.

In court Monday, Bradbury backed Ackerman's claim that he has used the pen name ``Dr. Acula'' for some 60 years and is inexorably linked to the character.

``He is it - there's no one else in the world that represents the totality of science fiction and fantasy,'' Bradbury said.

The 79-year-old author said he was surprised anyone would challenge Ackerman's association with ``Dr. Acula,'' a play on Dracula.

``They wouldn't dare - I'd get after them,'' Bradbury said.

Bradbury said he has long associated Ackerman with ``Dr. Acula'' because the two men have joked for decades over how to pronounce it.

As for Ackerman's claim that his battle with Ferry has damaged his reputation, Bradbury said he has heard no feedback in the industry about that.

Bradbury portrayed Ackerman as a tireless champion of all things ghoulish, especially as caretaker of the world's largest collection of science fiction and horror memorabilia, now at his Los Feliz house.

Bradbury said he was a dirt-poor newspaperboy in 1937 when he posted a note on the bulletin board of a Hollywood science fiction bookstore.

To the amazement of the Los Angeles High School student, Ackerman saw the note and wrote back, inviting him to Clifton's.

The imagination-rich teen immediately went to work writing for Ackerman and two years later, with Ackerman's financial backing, launched his own magazine, Futuria Fantasia.

``It helped establish me among simple fans - people who just love writing,'' Bradbury said.

Early on, Ackerman also acted as his literary agent. ``My stories were not very good, but he tried his best and achieved some success,'' Bradbury said.

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Photo: Author Ray Bradbury arrives Monday at Van Nuys Superior Court, where he testified to the history of ``Dr. Acula.''

David R. Crane/Staff Photographer