Writer Arthur C Clarke dies at 90

For decades, I have eagerly checked the library shelves for any new Arthur C. Clarke books...sigh...I will sorely miss those books...


RIP Mr. Clarke

reply to post by TheBorg

Originally posted by TheBorg
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.

I have done plenty of "stupid things", but being a sexual predator is not one of them. This is so far beyond the realm of "stupid things" that we all do in our lives. Describing it as a "stupid thing" is like saying "Oh, I just fell over naked and that naked boy broke my fall, stupid thing to do really." This is a man who decided to move to a third world nation and prey upon young boys for years. A man who found a nation with a legal loop-hole that allowed him to pursue his perverted lusts, and he did so with no moral qualms.

I don't think he got as much press as, say, Michael Jackson. In fact, outside of The Sunday Mirror article and a couple of sites on the net, it was a pretty quiet affair. Of course, Clarke's legal machine stomped the allegations out pretty quickly. Sri Lanka is a country where a well placed bribe or two can get you out of nearly any legal wrangle. If Jackson could do it in the States, how easy would it have been for Clarke to do in Colombo? What can the distraught peasant parents of the abused children do against the might of a "great white sahib", who has friends in high places?

It's interesting to note that another thread in the news concerning an Australian police officer and his 8000 odd child porn images has garnered a good few pages of vitriol. Yet Clarke, because he is considered some kind of science fiction "Demi-God", is beyond reproach.

WOW.

Well i was first introduced to Arthur C. Clarke thru a computer came called R.A.M.A.

The game was based on the books Rendezvous with Rama and Rama II.

It was really was a great game !

Basic plot

A gigantic cylindrical object entered the solar system. The International Space Agency (ISA) named it Rama and sent an expedition named 'Newton Team' to investigate and find its purpose and origins. They soon discovered that Rama is a hollow, rotating cylinder with enormous cities, populated by other alien species that have been collected during its travels.

Let me tell you some of those puzzles kept me up all night long. But it was all worth it when you completed them and Mr Clarke would appear and give you another peice of the story.

What a legend i hope he is happy where ever he is now traveling to the far out reaches of space i hope !

So long Arthur have a good trip !!!

Regards
Lee



[edit on 21-3-2008 by h3akalee]

reply to post by Beelzebubba


For the record, he made several mistakes, which in and of themselves, need to be dealt with on their own. I don't condone his actions dealing with children in any way, shape, or form. As a matter of fact, just thinking about it disgusts me.

However, I think that we need to at least respect the man that was such a visionary in many things. He helped to create the cell-phone networks that we use every day. That has to count for something, right?

Also, just because someone is a visionary, doesn't mean that they are a great person in every way.

Does this change how I view him? Yes.

Will it prevent me from recognizing the man that helped to spur space travel? No.

TheBorg

reply to post by Fighter.

I have done plenty of "stupid things", but being a sexual predator is not one of them. This is so far beyond the realm of "stupid things" that we all do in our lives. Describing it as a "stupid thing" is like saying "Oh, I just fell over naked and that naked boy broke my fall, stupid thing to do really." This is a man who decided to move to a third world nation and prey upon young boys for years. A man who found a nation with a legal loop-hole that allowed him to pursue his perverted lusts, and he did so with no moral qualms.

That is slanderous.

But, quite an imagination you have their.

I don't think he got as much press as, say, Michael Jackson. In fact, outside of The Sunday Mirror article and a couple of sites on the net, it was a pretty quiet affair. Of course, Clarke's legal machine stomped the allegations out pretty quickly. Sri Lanka is a country where a well placed bribe or two can get you out of nearly any legal wrangle. If Jackson could do it in the States, how easy would it have been for Clarke to do in Colombo? What can the distraught peasant parents of the abused children do against the might of a "great white sahib", who has friends in high places?

All speculation, every word of it.....

It's interesting to note that another thread in the news concerning an Australian police officer and his 8000 odd child porn images has garnered a good few pages of vitriol. Yet Clarke, because he is considered some kind of science fiction "Demi-God", is beyond reproach.

Which has what to do with Clarke?

You appear to base all your 'facts' on the premise he was charged and found guilty, which he was not.


[edit on 21-3-2008 by The Wizard]

Can we ignore that guy? If we wants to make a separate thread, fine. He is looking for a reaction.

For those looking for a new good book by Clarke, Time's Eye is pretty good. The Light of Distant Days was also excellent. He seems to write well with Baxter for some reason. I'm looking forward to getting the last book in the Time Odyssey series when I can get it cheap enough. I didn't realize it would be his last book.

There have been some questions to how much actual writing he has contributed to his later collaborations, but I can recommend Time's Eye. In places it contains writing as good as anything he has done, oops, I mean did. The change it tense has finally brought it home to me that he has gone. Thanks for Mr. Clarke.

Can someone send me the RAMA game?
I have read all books in the Rama series and have found all fascinating..
except the last one which dragged a little.

RIP AC Clarke. May the world remember you for your achievements and learn from you mistakes.

As for immortalizing Arthur C Clarke, any decent ideas?

originally posted by: The Wizard
reply to post by Fighter.

You appear to base all your 'facts' on the premise he was charged and found guilty, which he was not.

[edit on 21-3-2008 by The Wizard]

Thanks, resurrecting this old thread to say that after some recent charges against other celebrities, I remembered the accusations about Clarke, Googled and found some awful stuff, but it seems not to have been true. It's reprehensible that a "news source" would seemingly invent "evidence" of such dreadful allegations!

ianhamet.wordpress.com...
www.abc.net.au...

Rest in peace, Arthur C. Clarke.
You now have the answers to everything.
You helped change the world.

It's a sad day remembering the sad day in 2008 that Clarke met his monolith. I really like his mystery stories ("Tales from the White Hart" and other books - I may be wrong on the initial title, it's how I recall it), his shorts, and his novels (although I have his last collab novel and haven't been able to get into it, maybe this will be a reminder to try again).

(continue to) R.I.P.

-redacted-

The man was the grandfather of the space age, at least, that is the way I see it. Author is a term which does not do the man any justice what so ever.

I will always appreciate his contributions to both science fiction, and indeed space flight related science as well, since his impact on both has been extensive. May God rest his soul.

I'm just so glad to learn not every bad story out there is true! Personally I always liked him.

a reply to: solidshot
waiting for the stories to come out about him I guess fellow conspirator Rupert Murdoch is still protecting him.

a reply to: Beelzebubba

He denied these allegations.

And there's this:
ianhamet.wordpress.com - Clarke, slander, and gross epistemological errors...

The report of Clarke being a pedophile came from the Sunday Mirror:
en.wikipedia.org - Sunday Mirror...

A tabloid.

Here's a wiki talk about Arthur C. Clarke:
en.wikipedia.org - Talk:Arthur C. Clarke/Archive 1...

Below is a quote from a guardian article:
www.theguardian.com - The space Odysseus...

.........
The Mirror claimed that Clarke had paid young boys for sex. It produced affidavits from the boys in question. Sri Lankan police later disproved them, he says. The story ran two weeks before Prince Charles flew to Sri Lanka to confer a knighthood on the grand old man of science fiction. The saga was the lowest point in his career. At a banquet in his honour Clarke, who has post polio syndrome, found himself hobbling away from the press, pursued by an unctuous reporter from the Daily Telegraph. The episode still upsets him. "I take an extremely dim view of people mucking about with boys," Clarke says. "The whole thing was distressing to me. It was vindictive and very unpleasant. I can only assume it was a plot to embarrass Prince Charles." The novelist finally got his gong this May, at a low-key ceremony at the British high commission in Colombo.

Clarke's private life remains a mystery. He was married briefly to an American, Marilyn Mayfield, now dead, whom he met while diving in Florida in the 50s. Asked whether he is gay, Clarke always gives the same puckish pro forma answer: "No, merely cheerful." The answer, presumably, lies in the "Clarkives" - a vast collection of his manuscripts and private writings, to be published 50 years after his death.
...........

Check out the information here about the framed picture in his office and who he is buried next to. asiaobscura.com...