Arthur C. Clarke

total sadness. Arthur C. Clarke passed away a couple of days ago. for those not knowing, he was one of the greatest sci-fi writers ever. he was one of the last generation of sci-fi authors who were actually scientists. i always felt that his, and others, books were a bit more awesome because their foundations were in theories actually understood by the writers.

he had been living in Sri Lanka for the last few decades and i gave serious thought to stalking him (in a really friendly manner, of course) when i was there. i realized that he didnt actually want to meet me. plus, I was too lazy.

he wrote 2001: Space Odyssey which was a pretty awesome book but the movie was a bit too much for me to sit in one place and watch. even as a kid, i think reading was a bit easier to handle that tv watching. Gene Roddenberry said that Clarke gave him the gumption to go ahead and create Star Trek despite opposition. I and millions of other Trek fans also thank Clarke for this.

for me the sadness, is that there will never ever be anything new with his name on it. but then again, he wrote tons of books i can busy myself with.