R.I.P. Douglas Adams

J

jadedskies

Part Of The Furniture
PF Member
bawling.gif


SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (Reuters) - Douglas Adams, the British humor writer whose cult classic "The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" sold more than 14 million copies, died suddenly at his home near this central California city, a spokeswoman said on Saturday. He was 49 years old.

Adams, who was married with a 6-year-old daughter, died of a heart attack on Friday, said Sophie Astin, his personal assistant.

"It was a very sudden and unexpected death," Astin told Reuters.

Adams' science fiction saga, about a group of galactic travelers who survive the demolition of Earth to build a space bypass, began life as a 1978 BBC Radio series.

It was turned into a best-selling novel, a TV series, record album, computer game and adapted for stage. It made Adams a household name on both sides of the Atlantic.

British author and television personality Stephen Fry was among hundreds of friends and fans who paid tribute to Adams on his official Web site.

One message, titled "DOUGLAS NOOOOOO," claimed to be from Ford Prefect, the lead alien character from "The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy." It read: "Why do the talented ones die young?"

Astin said she had received calls from Adams friends Terry Jones of Monty Python fame and David Gilmour of the rock group Pink Floyd.

Adams was working on a new novel and on an online guide, h2g2, inspired by "The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy," at the time of his death. Work is also under way to turn the story into a film.

"He was pretty unique in being innovative in media after media -- from radio to the Web," said Ashley Highfield, BBC's head of new media, who was working with Adams on h2g2. "He was still coming up with more new ideas than almost anyone I've met."

Want to learn more? http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=entertainment&Repository=ENTERTAINMENT_REP&RepositoryStoryID=%2Fnews%2FIDS%2FEntertainment%2FENTERTAINMENT-PEOPLE-ADAMS-DC_NEW.XML

------------------
'An angel without wings can hardly fly, and love without a dream, it will not survive' - Vertical Horizon

PsychoticIckyThing.Com
 
A fitting summary of the situation ripped from JC News [http://www.jc-news.com/ ]

The stability of the universe was saved today. According to modern theory, both the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything, as well as its corresponding Answer, are mutually exclusive. Knowledge of one logically precludes knowledge of the other. It is impossible that both can ever be known about the same universe. Except, if it happened, it seems that the Question and the Answer would just cancel each other out and take the Universe with them, which would then be replaced by something even more bizarrely inexplicable. While it is possible that this has already happened, it is a comforting thought that we will never have the opportunity to risk it. Famed writer and keeper of all Clues to the Question, Douglas Adams, died Friday morning, taking the danger of universal catastrophe with him to his grave. While we all miss him terribly, and strongly suspect that the chances of our Earth being demolished to create a hyperspace bypass have increased substantially with his passing, we are satisfied with the knowledge that the rest of the universe will remain as it is. Far less threatening and far more boring than we make it out to be in our own minds.
And for those who are weeping this great author's passing, don't worry. We are sure that, over in whatever passes for a heaven for science fiction writers, there exists a creature entirely not unlike Eccentrica Gallumbits, the triple breasted **** of Eroticon Six.


--|BRiT|
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top