Arthur C Clark Died Today

Apologies for not writing anything this week, but my new job is taking up a lot of my time.

As I write this it is Tuesday evening here in Canada but in SriLanka where Mr Clarke lived, it is already Wednesday.

SOURCE

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.

Clarke, who had battled debilitating post-polio syndrome since the 1960s and sometimes used a wheelchair, died at 1:30 a.m. after suffering breathing problems, aide Rohan De Silva said.

Clarke moved to Sri Lanka in 1956, lured by his interest in marine diving which he said was as close as he could get to the weightless feeling of space.

"I'm perfectly operational underwater," he once said.

Co-author with Stanley Kubrick of Kubrick's film "2001: A Space Odyssey," Clarke was regarded as far more than a science-fiction writer.

He was credited with the concept of communications satellites in 1945, decades before they became a reality. Geosynchronous orbits, which keep satellites in a fixed position relative to the ground, are called Clarke orbits.

He joined American broadcaster Walter Cronkite as commentator on the U.S. Apollo moonshots in the late 1960s.

SOURCE 2

Clarke, one of the most prolific authors of his genre, was the last surviving member of a group of science-fiction writers known as the "Big Three." The two others were the Russian-born Isaac Asimov, who died in 1992, and Robert A. Heinlein, a Missouri native who died in 1988.

I did not really like Heinlein's books. I much preferred Carl Sagan's books.

Clarke Foundation

I told my husband that Arthur C. Clarke has died. He said "Never heard of him." I was shocked. I mentioned some of Clarkes books. "You know, the Rama series?" He shook his head again. I sighed and then a few minutes later, I suddenly remembered. 2001. Clarke wrote the 2001 novel. My husband and I both love scifi movies and TV. I also like reading sci fi (I love Carl Sagan abd Isaac Asimov). So I told Husband that the movie 2001 was based on Arthur Clarke's novel 2001. He shrugged and went back to his game.