COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Arthur C. Clarke, a visionary science fiction writer who won worldwide acclaim with more than 100 books on space, science and the future, died Wednesday in his adopted home of Sri Lanka, an aide said. He was 90.
Posted by Grant John (Member # 5993) on March 18, 2008 07:18 PM:
I thought that might pop up during my visit to Hatrack today.
Never read his work myself, but heard he was fantastic.
It has been a hard year for fans of the Science Fiction and Fantasy shelves.
Grant
Posted by Bent Tree (Member # 7777) on March 18, 2008 07:23 PM:
He leaves behind a legacy. I am grateful to have been influenced by him.
Posted by ozwonderdog (Member # 7837) on March 18, 2008 08:33 PM:
R.I.P.
the bit, in that article, where he says he sent his DNA into space? Nice...heh
Posted by Patrick James (Member # 7847) on March 18, 2008 08:35 PM:
*Three minutes of silence* One of the great writers has left us.
Posted by Alye (Member # 5017) on March 18, 2008 09:46 PM:
One of the greatest minds on the planet died today. I can’t say that I am shocked by his passing, but I am saddened. He was the one reason I put a pen to paper, anything I have written is because of the kind words in a typed letter that he sent me. I have lost the letter, several years ago, while moving. But I will never forget the impact his encouragement had on my life.
I will miss the man, and I always think of him when I write.
Thank you Sir Clark.
I wish you are your family the best, and urge them, and your fans to celebrate your life.
Posted by KayTi (Member # 5137) on March 18, 2008 10:37 PM:
Oh how terribly sad. I still remember my first reading of the book Contact (long before the passable movie with Jodie Foster...)
Posted by Bent Tree (Member # 7777) on March 18, 2008 10:40 PM:
Wasn't [I]Contact[?] Based on Carl Sagan?
Posted by JamieFord (Member # 3112) on March 18, 2008 10:45 PM:
At least he lived a long life--and even made it past 2001.
(And yep, Contact was written by Carl Sagan).
Posted by Toby Western (Member # 7841) on March 18, 2008 11:41 PM:
A trailblazer; visionaries follow in his wake.
Posted by JeanneT (Member # 5709) on March 18, 2008 11:43 PM:
A true visionary who lived an extraordinary life.
Posted by Bent Tree (Member # 7777) on March 19, 2008 12:06 AM:
He will always have two shelves in my library.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on March 19, 2008 05:40 AM:
I posted some comments over in Hooks and Books.
In my day, when you started out reading science fiction, you generally reached one of three writers first, and then caught up with the other two. Heinlein, Asimov, and Clarke. I stumbled upon Heinlein first, but Clarke came along not very much long afterwards.
Or maybe before...you've probably heard of the movie 2001: a Space Odyssey, which I saw part of in its first run, maybe a year or so before the books turned up. (I say "part of" because my grandmother, who took me, made us leave after about two-thirds of it---I didn't see the end until about seven or eight years later, on TV.) So maybe Clarke was my first...
Posted by Alethea Kontis (Member # 3748) on March 19, 2008 09:05 AM:
He was a good man.
I am honored to have what little communication I did with him.
I still remember getting his signed contract for the intro to ELEMENTAL...I probably stared at it for an hour. I am such a geek.
Posted by KayTi (Member # 5137) on March 19, 2008 04:08 PM:
Yeah, I figured out the Carl Sagan bit sometime in that late night part of my brain where the truth comes out. Ah, well - they're indexed in my head close together (it's a C thing, apparently.) Both greats. And I'm still bummed about Arthur C. Clarke's death.
Posted by NoTimeToThink (Member # 5174) on March 19, 2008 04:15 PM:
Robert Nowall is right. The first sci-fi book I read (in grade school) was Against the Fall of Night. I haven't looked at it since, but still remember it...
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on March 19, 2008 08:15 PM:
Hats off to one of the last true visionaries and a man well ahead of his time. With his death added to the list, this truly marks the end of an age of sci-fi.
Here's to hoping the next lives up to their standards.
Posted by rcorporon (Member # 2879) on March 19, 2008 09:27 PM:
One of the greatest of all time.
RIP Arthur C Clarke.
We'll miss you.
Posted by Pyre Dynasty (Member # 1947) on March 20, 2008 12:14 AM:
My first thought when I heard this was, wow he was still alive, and then quickly, dang I never got to meet him. I've only read "the nine billion names of god" But it still resonates with me.
*Lifts a glass to the giant on whose shoulders we stand.
Posted by SchamMan89 (Member # 5562) on March 23, 2008 07:52 PM:
A sad loss to be sure.
You know, my friend (who knows far more about him than I do) spent about 2 hours telling me all about him the day before he died. He literally ended the conversation saying "It's good to know he's still alive."
He's still freaking out.
Posted by LCastle (Member # 7363) on March 23, 2008 11:32 PM:
quote:In my day, when you started out reading science fiction, you generally reached one of three writers first, and then caught up with the other two. Heinlein, Asimov, and Clarke.
Yep, second.
R.I.P.
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on March 24, 2008 01:05 AM:
Third, here. I discovered Andre Norton at the junior high school library, and read some of her stuff, then went to the public library and found Clarke, and read several of his omnibuses (a story collection with a novel before and after it).
His stuff totally blew my adolescent mind. I still think they should try making a movie out of THE FALL OF MOONDUST.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on March 24, 2008 03:32 PM:
Well, I noticed the other writers besides Heinlein, but it was a year or so before I bought any of them because I was busy cleaning out everything that was Heinlein.
The first Heinlein book I read (library hardcover) and bought (paperback) was Space Cadet.
The first Asimov book I read and bought (paperback) was I, Robot...earlier, but after my Heinlein infatuation, a chapter ("Robbie") turned up in a school textbook.
I can't remember the first Clarke I read or bought---it might've been 2001, the book, which was given to me in hardcover...
Posted by JeanneT (Member # 5709) on March 24, 2008 03:40 PM:
Andre Norton was the first I discovered. Clarke was much later for me.
Posted by TaleSpinner (Member # 5638) on March 24, 2008 03:43 PM:
Clarke was probably the fourth SF writer I read.
Heinlein took me from YA's into the adult section of our local library. Once I realised that SF was written for adults, in my usual systematic way I read all the Heinleins, then started working through Gollancz SF books in alphabetical order, probably Aldiss, Asimov, Blish, Clarke. Or something like that.
I enjoyed his books because his futuristic science seemed as though one day it would be real.
I still remember my first reading of the book Contact (long before the passable movie with Jodie Foster...)
Ah, well - they're indexed in my head close together (it's a C thing, apparently.) Both greats. And I'm still bummed about Arthur C. Clarke's death.