Escape Artists
Escape Pod => Science Fiction Discussion => Topic started by: Ocicat on March 18, 2008, 10:31:04 PM
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According to his aide (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/APNEWSALERT?SITE=HIHAD&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2008-03-18-16-54-37) Arthur C. Clarke died in his home in Sri Lanka today.
If you're a fan of SF, you know his work (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_C._Clarke). We all owe him a debt of gratitude for his work in the genre such as 2001 and Childhood's End, and contributions to science itself - such as the very ideas of geostationary satellites and space elevators.
A moment of slience please...
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I am very saddened today. The last of my holy trinity, Asimov, Adams and Clarke has passed away; and with it another little piece of my childhood. These three men played a large part in shaping my mind, such as it is. :'(
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Very sad news. ACC's work was what got me interested in sci-fi, specifically Rendezvous With Rama. His novels and short stories blew my mind as a kid growing up in a small town. :'(
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The 2001 series was probably the first adult SF I read.
It's a sad day, though he certainly drank life to the lees.
The NYT Obit (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/books/18cnd-clarke.html?hp).
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Thank you Arthur....
I remember very clearly that Arthur C. Clarke's book The City and the Stars was the first full lenth SF that I had ever read. It was during a summer vacation to my Grandfather's house in Sunnyvalle in 1979. I was 10 years old, and I loved going there. He worked for TRW on a subcontract for Shuttle so to me he was outer space. I would sit with him every night and read out of Analog or Asimov while he read a math or physics book or some tech mannual. Then one night he went to his bookshelf and pulled a first addition City and the Stars off and said "here try this". That was it I was hooked. Thanks Grandpa and thanks Arthur.
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I found some free audio fiction versions of Arthur C. Clarke stories over at http://www.hardsf.org/HSF0Mind.htm. They come from an old radio series from the University of Wisconsin called Mind Webs that ran between '76 - '84. The stories on Mind Web include:
The Star
The Haunted Spacesuit
The Nine Billion Names of God
The Sentinel
Summertime on Icarus
A Walk in the Dark
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Truly a sad day for the literary world.
At least he had a nice long life and left behind many stellar achievements.
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We were fortunate to have him as long as we did. He will be missed.
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:::moment of silence:::
Clarke was the first sf author whose works I exhausted. His vision and style will be missed.
While not from his work, I offer this quote to his memory: Hail and farewell, fellow Traveler. The great dark is too great, and the night too deep. We will never meet, you and I. Let me pause therefore, and raise a glass. (From The Engines of God by Jack McDevitt)
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Favorite SF Author Ever. Truly one of the giants.
More than any other author, his works are what made me a lifelong SF reader.
Many years ago I wrote a program (on an Apple II!) to print out all 9,000,000,000 names... but I was too scared to run it ;)
Thank You Sir Arthur.
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NPR remembrance (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88526213)
And another (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88552259)
NYTimes (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/19/books/19clarke.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=arthur+c+clarke&st=nyt&oref=slogin)
Sir Arthur C Clarke: 90th Birthday Reflections (http://youtube.com/watch?v=3qLdeEjdbWE) on Youtube
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The city and the stars is in my opinion the best science fiction story ever. 90 years is a long time, but still too early for him to go :(
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Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me used Arthur C. Clarke as the subject of their "Not My Job (http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=35&prgDate=03-22-2008&view=storyview)" quiz this week.
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Randy Cassingham's This is True (http://www.thisistrue.com/) had Sir Arthur as the "Honorary Unsubscribe" this week, with the following comment:
IT'S TRUE THAT the Honorary Unsubscribe is usually reserved for those who
you haven't heard about. Sometimes, though, I break the rules when it's
someone who means something to me. This week's honoree, below, did.
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Michael Moorcock reminisces (http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2267284,00.html).
(Note for non-UK readers: November 5 is Bonfire Night, when all loyal subjects of the Crown commemorate the failure of a plot to blow up an earlier King (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpowder_Plot). I skimmed the article at first and was confused by the references to explosions until I spotted the significant date.)
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Another NYT remembrance. (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/25/science/25essa.html)
Michael Moorcock reminisces (http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2267284,00.html).
(Note for non-UK readers: November 5 is Bonfire Night, when all loyal subjects of the Crown commemorate the failure of a plot to blow up an earlier King (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpowder_Plot). I skimmed the article at first and was confused by the references to explosions until I spotted the significant date.)
Huh. I'd never heard it mentioned he was gay. Guess it never really mattered.
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(Note for non-UK readers: November 5 is Bonfire Night, when all loyal subjects of the Crown commemorate the failure of a plot to blow up an earlier King (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpowder_Plot). I skimmed the article at first and was confused by the references to explosions until I spotted the significant date.)
I thought it was a commemoration of Guy Fawkes, the only man ever to enter Parliament with honest intentions ;D
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Huh. I'd never heard it mentioned he was gay. Guess it never really mattered.
To quote the New York Times obit (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/books/18cnd-clarke.html?hp):Mr. Clarke’s standard answer when journalists asked him outright if he was gay was, “No, merely mildly cheerful.”
This is of profound importance to me, as I care a great deal about which sex Sir Arthur C. Clarke preferred to have sexual relations with.