Arthur C. Clarke, owner of the brain that brought you communications satellites and the most famous imaginary computer in history, the HAL 9000, died today in his adopted hometown of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Along with a handful of other old school scifi storytellers like Asimov, Heinlein, Bradbury, and Niven, Clarke kindled my early love for the genre. Reading his stories made me want to invent my own; reading his best work makes me want to give it up out of despair of ever producing anything half so good. To paraphrase a famous Clarke line, any sufficiently advanced writing (he said "technology") is indistinguishable from magic.
Anthony Minghella, director of the films "Truly, Madly, Deeply," "The Talented Mr. Ripley," "The English Patient," and "Cold Mountain," also died today. Somehow it seems sad that despite such an impressive résumé, he will always be at best the second most accomplished artist to die today.
I know it's not a contest. But, still.
ADDENDUM: 3/20/08
Arrgghh! The Rule of Three just kicked in, and now one of my very favorite actors, Paul Scofield, is dead. "A Man for All Seasons" will always be one of my top five beloved films thanks to Scofield's moving performance. Man, what a crappy week.
No comments:
Post a Comment