Writer Arthur C Clarke dies at 90

God said, "Cancel Program Arthur C. Clark."

My Grandfather was best friend with the man. I used to love to hear him sit on my grand daddy's black leather sofa and talk about the future. He used to talk about how great it would be when there was a single world government (which he said was needed for true space exploration) with robot servants and bio-scans. He was always under the impression that we'd be indentified by a genome or DNA scan sometime in the future. He once explained to me how it would happen, but I was too young and it went over my head. I would pick at him for hours as a small boy about what the future held, and he never did once draw a blank.

He really thought religion - especially organized Christianity - was basically a disease on this earth. Man, my mom hated the man. Every time he was at my grandparents house, my mother would never go there because he'd always start rationalizing religion with her. He used to tell my grandpa that until man gets over his "problem" of following a religion, we'll only be going 1/4 of our potential speed. He was funny as a mad hatter and sometimes hard to keep up with.

I haven't seen the man in many years, and my Grandfather passed away some time ago. I'll always remember him though.

RIP.

reply to post by SkepticOverlord

My top three, Clarked, Assimov and Heinlein "I Grok you" man,
Clarke will continue to live in my mind and sites like this

reply to post by Mr. Ree

You were lucky to be in the company of a genius!

As a relative of Arthurs (on my fathers side) I cant express how sad this news was when I heard it, and how hard is has been on people closer to him.

RIP Arthur, a great man upon whos giant shoulders many people stand!

To transfer from the other thread...

I just loaned a friend one of my very favourite books, "The City and the Stars". Not only was it the last book that my son and I read together...no longer a bed time story, but a chill-out ritual that ended when he turned 13...but I gave him a copy in hardcover so that he might come back to it from time to time. As I have since I was his age.

And so it goes...
(KV)

Gizmodo had it right...

Arthur C Clarke Dies, Probably Headed Back to the Stars

He is indeed heading back to the stars, he had a great mind.

He shall be missed. R.I.P.

FK

He sure did give us all a spectacular legacy. I love his stories. And the story I like the most is "All the time in the world", it would have been an excelent movie

Rest in peace Arthur!

What are your favorite stories from Arthur?

Originally posted by JohnnyCanuck
To transfer from the other thread...

I just loaned a friend one of my very favourite books, "The City and the Stars". Not only was it the last book that my son and I read together...no longer a bed time story, but a chill-out ritual that ended when he turned 13...but I gave him a copy in hardcover so that he might come back to it from time to time. As I have since I was his age.

And so it goes...
(KV)

Your boy is lucky to get that gift. I found the book myself. In many ways it defined my early years. It's hard to believe it was written in the 30's. Such vision!

I'm actually not that sad Mr Clarke is gone. We all have to go some time, and he had a good run.

Originally posted by Mr. Ree
God said, "Cancel Program Arthur C. Clark."

My Grandfather was best friend with the man. I used to love to hear him sit on my grand daddy's black leather sofa and talk about the future. He used to talk about how great it would be when there was a single world government (which he said was needed for true space exploration) with robot servants and bio-scans. He was always under the impression that we'd be indentified by a genome or DNA scan sometime in the future. He once explained to me how it would happen, but I was too young and it went over my head. I would pick at him for hours as a small boy about what the future held, and he never did once draw a blank.

He really thought religion - especially organized Christianity - was basically a disease on this earth. Man, my mom hated the man. Every time he was at my grandparents house, my mother would never go there because he'd always start rationalizing religion with her. He used to tell my grandpa that until man gets over his "problem" of following a religion, we'll only be going 1/4 of our potential speed. He was funny as a mad hatter and sometimes hard to keep up with.

I haven't seen the man in many years, and my Grandfather passed away some time ago. I'll always remember him though.

RIP.

Mr. Ree, I would appreciate it if you would share more of your memories of the man with us.

What can you say about this man other than he has effected the whole human race whether that person has known him or not.

RIP

Hardly ever do i feel sad when someone famous dies, but i do today, for the first time since the pope died a few years ago.

For me he was an different in many ways to all the others as he knows and understand how you need to know how the world works, so scifi needs to be practical to civilaisation, and he had this gift.

R.I.P Sir Authur. It is rumored that his books and such were written about things he saw knew about not sure how true it is but still a good man that will will be missed.

I've never read any of his books personally, but my favorite show Discovery Channel ever aired was Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious Universe. Do they have that show on DVD somewhere? I'm actually kinda filled with sorrow right now, because I always thought "Wow, what a cool old man."

I am sad.... and Discovery Channel has sucked ass for some time now.

An inspirational genius and a really nice guy. We'll all miss you Arthur.

[edit on 19/3/08 by Myrdyn]

I'm sure he will be buried in a coffin having the same proportion of the monolith (1 - 4 - 9, being the first three number raised to power 2), LOL.

Anyway, 90 years old is a long life.

He was a great author (2001 is my favorite movie, I cannot recall how many time I saw it).

Long time ago, there was a story linking A.C. Clarke and pedophilia in Sri-Lanka (the reason, he moved over there), was that story true?

90 was a good innings, i'm sure he'd have taken that when he wen't into bat.He was a man many years ahead of the world he walked.

R.I.P

reply to post by PopeyeFAFL


No. I hope they put his ashes into a small pillar shaped dart, and send it to the Moon, where it will be stuck into the surface. He'd then become the Obelisk that he envisioned in his story. Now how apropos would that be?

Me thinks that Sir Arthur deserves this one thing, for all that he has done for the world.

Still miss you Arthur...

TheBorg

Edit:

Well all, it's been decided. He will be buried in Sri Lanka, his home country. According to CNN,

Even in death Arthur C. Clarke would not compromise his vision.

The famed science fiction writer, who once denigrated religion as "a necessary evil in the childhood of our particular species," left written instructions that his funeral be completely secular, according to his aides.

"Absolutely no religious rites of any kind, relating to any religious faith, should be associated with my funeral," he wrote.

Clarke died early Wednesday at age 90 and was to be buried in a private funeral this weekend in his adopted home of Sri Lanka.

So, there we have it. He's to be buried here. I really wish that he would have opted for his ashes to be sent into space and put on the moon. It would have been a fitting remembrance of him.

[edit on 20-3-2008 by TheBorg]

Sorry to rain on your parade, but the man was an unrepentant paedophile. The only reason he was cleared of any child abuse charges was because by the time the Sri Lankan Government had raised the age of consent from 12 to 16, Clarke was sexually inactive due to the ravages of polio.

"I am trying to think of the youngest boy I have ever had because, of course, you can't tell it here. I think most of the damage comes from the fuss made by hysterical parents afterwards. If the kids don't mind, fair enough,'' he was reported to have said in the interview which was conducted at his house.

Link

His status as the grand old man of science fiction was threatened when, in 1998, allegations of child abuse, which he strenuously denied, caused the confirmation of a knighthood to be delayed.

Sri Lanka's Justice Minister Lakshman Peiris ruled there was insufficient evidence to prosecute.

Link


Sri Lanka for the scuba diving?... yeah sure.

[edit on 20/3/2008 by Beelzebubba]

reply to post by Beelzebubba


Just goes to show ya that famous people are people too. They do stupid things, just like we do. They just get more press for it.

TheBorg

[Edited for clarity.]

[edit on 20-3-2008 by TheBorg]

Childhood's End and The Deep Range were both excellent books. I think Arthur's literature will still be read hundreds of years in the future and he will be looked upon as a visionary like Jules Verne's. I'm sure he’s in a new plane of existence where he truly can unlock and discover the secrets of our universe he spent his entire life trying to decipher.

RIP, Authur!

I think I read almost everything he ever wrote, even some of his oceanography stuff.

Who remembers "Rendezvous with Rama"? That book still sticks in my head, must have read it over 35 yrs. ago! Damn, I'm getting old!