One of my favorite and respected authors, Arthur C. Clarke, passed away at age 90 last night in Sri Lanka, his adopted country of residence. Wow, first Assimov and now ACC. Those two guys shaped (and continue to do so) the lives of so many people with their stories of science fiction and predictions of the future.
Clarke proposed the idea of communication satellites in 1945 and predicted that man would land on the moon by 1970 (turned out to be July, 1969). He was knighted by Prince Charles in 1998. He wrote the short story "The Sentinel" which became "2001: A Space Odessey" one of the greatest sci-fi stories ever written...Assimov's "I Sing the Body Electric" is a close second for me with Clarke's "Rama" in third. I wish someone would do a movie on "Rama" but I think it would be too difficult and probably too long. The story is just too detailed for a movie to do it justice.
I, like many people in this world, die a little bit when those who shaped our lives in some form or fashion passes away. However, we also celebrate their influence. I liked this little bit in a story on Sir Arthur: "Marking his '90th orbit of the Sun' in December, the author said that he did not feel 'a day over 89' and made three birthday wishes: for ET to call, for man to kick his oil habit, and for peace in Sri Lanka.
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