Clarke was the author who turned me to science fiction, and I always liked his hard-science writing; lots of technology and ideas. Perhaps the writing itself wasn’t the greatest, and definitely some books were better than others, but I will always have a fond recollection of Rendezvous With Rama, Islands in the Sky and Against the Fall of Night, among many others.
Man, when I was a teen I read sci-fi almost exclusively. These guys were at the top of the list, for sure. At least he lived to see 2001 and then some.
We knew it was coming, but still. Somewhere in the back of my mind I nourished the feeble hope that I might one day travel to Sri Lanka and thank Mr. Clarke for three things:
[ul]
[li]All the excellent fiction he has given us[/li][li]Geosynchronous satellites for telecommunications[/li][li]His work on radar[/li][/ul]
Yes, I am in tears for he was my favorite. His “A Fall of Moondust” has a special place in my heart, I try to read it once a year for old times sake. It will be very hard to open it again.
Rest in Peace Sir Arthur, you reached into the future for us all.
I almost had a chance to talk with him once, sort of – at an American Library Association conference, there was a panel on space elevator technology where Clarke (author of Fountains of Paradise) was scheduled to speak (from Sri Lanka) by videolink. But something went wrong with the transmission.
Maybe he’s just in a another state like, maybe a Star Child ?
In the end of the 2001 movie, David Bowman is led through a metamorphosis from a material being to an energy-like being. This state, and David Bowman’s incarnation of himself in this state, is referred to in the 2001 book as the Star Child.*
He fired my imagination in his books and in his piping up from time to time on Science issues and I will miss him. He added alot to our world I think