By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com
Another Loss…
Arthur C. Clarke passed away at the grand old age of 90 in his beloved Sri Lanka, where he lived for the last 52 years of his life.
For movie fans, Clarke is “The 2001 Guy” and little else.
David Fincher has been planning a film based on another Clarke book. We’ll see if it happens.
For me, he has settled into my consciousness as a friend of Roger Ebert’s. The teo apparently had a lively e-mail relationship over the years. The relationship really began in the late 50s when as a member of the Urbana High School Science Fiction Club, Roger went to see Clarke speak at U of Illinois: Champaign-Urbana
In 2003, I was in the attendance when Clarke made a rare appearance – by telephone – at Ebert’s Overlooked Film Festival, along with Keir Dullea and Jan Harlan after a screening of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
In one piece, Roger wrote – “At Cyberfest 1997, a birthday celebration for HAL 9000, who reveals in the film that he was born in 1997 at the university’s computer lab. (There was a panel discussion featuring Arthur C. Clarke, live from Sri Lanka, on a huge screen over the stage; told by a panelist that HAL “sounded gay,” Sir Arthur said, “I think you’ll have to ask HAL about that.”)”
In a Movie Answer Man, he offered Clarke’s response to a 2001 question.
I am almost more sad that Roger is not able, for the moment, to give tribute to this man who meant so much to him, as I am by the loss of a 90 year old who lived a full life, most of it on his own terms.
Then again, there are few with that kind of vision.
He died only 2 weeks short of the 40th anniversary of 2001…
And Minghella died 1 weeks short of the premier of his latest TV movie. Freaky.
This is a bigger personal loss to me than Minghella because I’m a long-term sci-fi geek. His short stories, Childhood’s End, The Fountains of Paradise, hell, even his Mysteries of the Unexplained series, all great stuff.
He was one of the few sci-fi writers who actually understood science…
Incredibly selfish thought I had a week ago after finishing “Firstborn” (Clarke’s last book???): “I hope Arthur lives long enough to author (or at least co-author) a few more books.”
Fortunately, I have only read perhaps 30 of his 100 or so books. I will enjoy each one that much more now.
The first novel I can remember reading is 2001 as a kid in the 70s. I just began rereading Childhood’s End last weekend. I’m feeling the love pretty strong right now.
Goodbye, Sir Clarke!
I am imagining him reunited with Heinlein and Asimov–Heinlein with scotch in hand, Asimov with a ginger ale–each claiming the other is the greatest SF writer.