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When my husband phoned me at work to tell me Douglas Adams had died, I almost cried at my desk.
I have been a fan since I first read 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' at around age 8, and since then I have read his work voraciously and waited impatiently for each new installment to come out. No other writer has ever made me laugh so hard, laugh out loud or keep laughing through as many re-reads as Douglas has.
After some online research, it appears that Douglas died on Friday, the 11th of May after suffering a heart attack at his home in Santa Barbara, California. He was only 49 years old. His personal assistant Sophie Astin is quoted as saying "It was a very sudden and unexpected death", and I'm sure this sentiment is echoed by his scores of fans throughout the world.
Best known for his "trilogy in five parts" (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; The Restaurant at the End of the Universe; Life, the Universe and Everything; So Long and Thanks for All the Fish and Mostly Harmless), Douglas is also the author of 'Dirk Gently's Holistic Detecive Agency' and it's sequel 'The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul', 'Last Chance To See' (a true account of Douglas's tour of the world's endangered animals), as well as the lesser known non-fictions 'Children, Divorce and the Church' and 'The Prostitute in the Family Tree: Discovering Humor and Irony in the Bible'. He also co-wrote 'The Meaning of Liff' (a very funny little book that gives new meanings to words without definitions) with John Lloyd and created several computer games including 'Starship Titanic' (adapted into novel form by Terry Jones of Monty Python fame).
At the time of his death Douglas Adams was working on a new novel as well as an online guide, 'h2g2', inspired by the Hitchhiker's series. Apparently plans are already underway to turn the story into a film.
Neil Gaiman, author of Douglas's biography "Don't Panic - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Companion" posted the following in his Amercian Gods Journal (www.americangods.com/journal.html) on May 12:
"For a weird moment I thought it was a joke, then I realised it wasn't… He was a very brilliant man (Not said lightly. I think he really was one of those astonishingly rare people who saw things differently and more clearly and from a different angle)… He was immensely kind and generous, with his time and material, to a young journalist over fifteen years ago… & I'll miss him."
The following message is now posted on the official Douglas Adams website (www.douglasadams.com):
"The Digital Village as a registered company has ceased to exist. However, as a group of people who loved and worked with Douglas Adams, The Digital Village will continue for a long time. No-one from TDV can really accept or believe what has happened yet. Douglas just seemed like he would go on forever. Our thoughts are with Douglas' family and friends."
"The lights went out in his eyes for absolutely the very last time ever."
Douglas is survived by his wife Jane and his seven year old daughter, Polly.
His
humour, originality and wit will never be matched, and I am sure that his legacy will live on long into the next generations of sci-fi and comedy fans.
So in place of a minute's silence, lets all raise our Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters and drink a toast to one of the greatest and funniest sci-fi writers of all time, a hoopy frood who always knew where his towel was. So long Douglas, and thanks for all the laughter.
[Dedicated to the memory of Douglas Noel Adams : 1952-2001]
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