Please insert the word “in” into my previous post.
Sadness.
Douglas has merely left his body behind while making an interstellar jaunt to Paradise.
My deepest sympathies to his family, to include those of us who loved him for his writing.
Belgium man, Belgium. 
Now, don’t panic. Maybe he’s only spending a year dead for insurance purposes.
This is so sad. I’m picturing the author photo from Dirk Gently, with him smiling over a cup of tea. God damn, that’s sad. Well, he’s probably sipping darjeeling with Graham Chapman. And, although they never met IRL, perhaps he’s met Jim Henson, who also died way too young, and if anyone could have animated HHGTTG, would have done so admirably.
So long…
In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very unhappy and is widely regarded as a bad move. And without Douglas Adams around, I’m beginning to understand their perspective.
Dammit.
And everyone is invited to post their favorite quotes over in my new IMHO thread:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=70746
Thanks, Euty, that made me smile.
Douglas Adams was a sheer genius. Laugh-out loud funny, witty, thought-provoking, and did I mention so funny he made your sides hurt? I remember sitting in a shopping mall with some friends–I was in middle school at the time, I think–laughing and snorting with glee reading the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which I’d just bought, and had to read right there. He was brilliant at description and wordplay, and his Dirk Gently books in particular had such lovely plots.
Damn, damn, damn. 49 is way, way too young.
He’s dead- god…and so young, too.
NOW who’s gonna write the sixth book in the Hitchhiker Trilogy? Waah…
Aw crap.
I was first exposed to his work back in high school, had to have been 1983. NPR was doing the radio plays, and one of my best friends, (who was from London and moved here when he was 17)turned me on to him.
Crap on a pogo stick.
Now I’m all sad.
… sulks off…
A few years ago I saw Douglas Adams in person with Terry Jones at a bookstore appearance. He was just as funny in person. But he looked way older than 46. I guess he just wasn’t built to last.
I say, Douglas and Cecil have got to be related. Same name, same warped sense of humor. (Different countries, but whatever…)
This is sad news indeed.
And if that weren’t bad enough, I found this while looking over the bbc’s h2g2 site…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A297920
According to this…Peter Jones, who was the Voice of the Book in the series, died this week as well. Double crap.
Sorry to keep posting, but I JUST noticed that Peter Jones’ obit was dated April 13th. It is now May 12th. A month has passed in the interim.
I was lost in the space time continum.
Really.
It was still news to me though.
Interesting: Here in LA, it’s been bright and sunny all week. Now it’s quarter to 11, and the day is gray and overcast: a misty moisty morning, almost like Britain. (I assume, since I’ve never been there.) Adams was in Santa Barbara when he died. Hmm.
Somewhere in the universe a two-headed man in crying into his Pan-Galactic Gargle-Blaster.
Three years ago, when I was on the Student Activities Board here at the U. of Kentucky, I had Douglas Adams booked as a speaker. He was only going to do about three stateside speaking engagements, and I snagged one of them. I had the date set, the hall booked, and everything ready to go. (I would have even been the one to take him out to dinner.)
The chairman of the SAB, however, fought against it, since he couldn’t believe that anyone would pay $10 to come hear a speech by some obscure sci-fi writer he had never heard of. I was essentially browbeaten into cancelling the gig, which not only pissed me off but destroyed our relationship with that agency.
Dammit.
I think I’ll go raise a Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster to his memory, or maybe I’ll just bash my head with a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick.
Dr. J
Damn shame, that.
I was having such a great day too…
OK, creeped out…Uriah Heap’s “The Wizard”, just came up on Winamp, and moi started to cry. Me too, dammit.
…to free the world of it’s fear and pain,
and help the people to feel free again…
Damm, damm, damm.