[Historybuff]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23697230/

Originally Posted by msnbc

MSNBC staff and news service reports
updated 1 hour, 14 minutes ago

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. local time after suffering breathing problems, aide Rohan De Silva told The Associated Press.

Clarke was regarded as a technological seer as well as a science-fiction writer, and was known as "the godfather of the telecommunications satellite."

His most famous novel, "2001: A Space Odyssey," was the basis of the 1968 film of the same name, co-written and directed by Stanley Kubrick. The film and the book elevated the plot's mentally unbalanced computer, HAL 9000, into the pantheon of great fictional characters.

Three "2001" book sequels followed, and one of them — "2010" — was made into a movie as well.

In addition to the "2001" series, some of Clarke's best-known works are "Childhood's End" (1953), "The City and the Stars" (1956), "The Nine Billion Names of God" (1967), "Imperial Earth" (1975) and "The Songs of Distant Earth" (1986). His 1973 novel "Rendezvous With Rama" is reportedly being adapted for film, with actor Morgan Freeman as producer and star.

Clarke won the Nebula Award of the Science Fiction Writers of America in 1972, 1974 and 1979; the Hugo Award of the World Science Fiction Convention in 1974 and 1980, and in 1986 became Grand Master of the Science Fiction Writers of America. He became an honorary fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 1976, and was awarded British knighthood in 1989.

Son of a farmer
Arthur Charles Clarke was born in 1917 in the English coastal town of Minehead, the eldest of four children in a farming family. He became addicted to science fiction after buying his first copies of the pulp magazine Amazing Stories at a Woolworth's store. He devoured the writings of H.G. Wells and Olaf Stapledon, and began writing for his school magazine in his teens.

During World War II, the Royal Air Force put him in charge of a new radar blind-landing system. Then, after the war, he proposed the idea of using geostationary satellites as relays for wireless communication. It took decades for the idea to bear fruit, but it eventually earned him a claim to fame almost as great as his science-fiction stories. Geosynchronous orbits, which keep satellites in a fixed position relative to the ground, are today called Clarke orbits.

Also during the 1940s, Clarke predicted that man would reach the moon by the year 2000 — an idea that experts at the time dismissed as nonsense. In the late 1960s, Clarke served as a commentator along with CBS broadcaster Walter Cronkite for the Apollo missions that turned his prediction into reality. Later, NASA Administrator Tom Paine wrote in an inscription to Clarke that the science-fiction author "provided the essential intellectual drive that led us to the moon."

Yet another novel of Clarke's, "The Fountains of Paradise," helped spark the real-world efforts to build a space elevator from Earth to orbit. The idea is still being pursued, although its realization may still be decades away.

A true visionary who stayed relevant throughout his entire life. The only thing I can see that's incorrect above is that the novel of 2001 A Space Odyssey was actually written AFTER the script for the movie was written by Clarke and Kubrick.

[GreenMan]

Thanks man, nice post. Have read several of his books, enjoyed all of them. R.I.P.

[iconoclast]

Rest In Peace, Mr. Clarke.

Though he has shed his mortal coil, Arthur C Clarke lives on in me and
the countless others whose lives have been changed by his work. His
work enlightened, inspired, encouraged, and excited me. It still does.

-iconoclast

[Historybuff]

I just read a cool short story that he wrote, "The Nine Billion Names of God" which was linked in Neil Gaiman's Blog - great timeless sci-fi.

He will definitely be missed.

I'm trying to think if I read all of the 2001 books, I know I read 2001 and 2010, and I think 2063 as well...but I thought there was even another one.

Hmm maybe it's time to re-read them.

BTW - Clarke recorded a "goodbye" message to friends and fans back in December, here's a link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLXQ7rNgWwg

[The Urban Spaceman]

another legend gone...
i met Mr Clarke at a bool signing at the now defunct Change of Hobbit bookstore in Santa Monica. he was truly a gentleman. not to mention a fantastic writer and visionary.

For those who do not know, 2001 A Space Odyssey was loosely based on Clarke's 1950 short story The Sentinel.

he is now at one with the universe...

much love
spacey

[firemonkey]

Read everything he did. Saw some great interviews with him a few years ago. What a great thinker.