Acclaimed sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke has died at age 90. Clarke is probably best known as the writer of Stanley Kubrick’s landmark film 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Clark is considered a scientific visionary, known as “the godfather of the telecommunications satellite”. He also foretold future technological ideas such as space stations, the moon landing, cellular phones, and even the Internet. Clark wrote 80 fiction and nonfiction books and wrote more than 100 short stories (not including hundreds of articles and essays).
David Fincher has been trying for years to develop a big screen adaptation of Clarke’s popular 1973 novel Rendezvous with Rama. Set in the 22nd century, a group of human explorers, who intercept a thirty-mile-long cylindrical alien starship that passes through Earth’s solar system, and attempt to unlock its mysteries.
Clarke is also the third in a series of geek idols to die in the last two weeks, which fits into the theory that everything happens in 3’s (”The Rule of Three’s”). The first was Gary Gygax, best known for co-creating the pioneering role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). The second happened earlier today, Oscar-winning director and writer Anthony Minghella died at age 54.
March 18th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Wow, we’ve lost two great minds in one day =’(
March 18th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
I still remember where I was the day I heard that we’d lost Isaac Asimov. I remember Philip K. Dick. And I remember all the others that have passed into the other world, those that fueled my imagination, that opened new horizons, that helped me think new thoughts and become the man I am today. Mr. Clarke was one of those, one of the greats, a visionary and a gentleman, a writer and a thinker. This world is lessened by his passing. We shall not have another. And that thought saddens me.
“There is hopeful symbolism in the fact that flags do not wave in a vacuum.”
- Arthur C. Clarke
March 18th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
Another star in the firmament…
March 18th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
This is depressing, yet strange. I was re-reading ‘Rama’ last week and on a whim I decided to check on developments about the film.
IMDB updated their ‘Rama’ section in Feb this year. ‘Rama’ now has a 2009 release date. Hopefully Clarke’s death will get this project moving at long last.
March 18th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
Ohhh noooo… my master!! MAAAASSSTEEEEERRRR WHYY???!!
well.. it’s ok.. you are immortal anyway.
March 19th, 2008 at 12:00 am
Pretty sure Fincher was set on doing this after his current film, which stars Brad Pitt?
Fincher will do the man’s work justice.
RIP
March 19th, 2008 at 10:28 am
Things happen in 3’s.
RIP Clarke. You made science fiction reality.
March 19th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
RIP.
A truly great mind.
Extra cool points for dipping out to Sri Lanka.
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