[EAS]Author Douglas Adams Dies

[pjk]

Subject:   Author Douglas Adams Dies


http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1326000/1326657.stm

> Author Douglas Adams, who wrote The Hitchhiker's Guide to the
> Galaxy, has died suddenly aged 49. 
> 
> Mr Adams died on Friday morning in Santa Barbara, California,
> following a heart attack, said his spokeswoman Sophie Astin. 
> 
> The author became a household name when the cult science fiction
> novel was turned into a BBC TV series. 
> 
> Prominent figures at the BBC, who worked with Adams on many
> projects, have spoken of their shock and sorrow at his death. 
> 
> Alan Yentob, the BBC director of drama and entertainment, said:
> "Douglas was a big character who will be hugely missed by a host of
> friends and millions of fans around the world. 
> 
> "He was a gifted writer; a one-off talent who managed to combine
> fantasy and humanity in books which enthralled generations of
> readers. We'll miss him enormously." 
> 
> The BBC's head of comedy, Geoffrey Perkins, who produced the
> original Hitchhiker's radio series, said: "I'm absolutely
> devastated. I've known Douglas for 25 years. He was absolutely one
> of the most creative geniuses to ever work in radio comedy. 
> 
> "He probably wrote one of the greatest radio comedy series ever;
> certainly the most imaginative. 
> 
> "For somebody who was so involved in breakthroughs in new
> developments in technology, it's a tragedy that he's died before
> most of the things he's talked about have come about." 
> 
> Ashley Highfield, the BBC director of new media, who worked wth
> Adams on his website, said: "I've been a huge fan of Douglas and
> working with him on the h2g2 website was the culmination of
> childhood dreams. 
> 
> "He was pretty unique in being innovative in media after media -
> from radio to the web. He was still coming up with more new ideas
> than almost anyone I've met. 
> 
> "His brainchild - the h2g2 website - which the BBC has taken
> forward, is groundbreaking in enabling an online encyclopaedia to
> be created by the people for the people." 
> 
> Adams was born in Cambridge in 1952 and educated in Essex before
> returning to Cambridge to study at St John's College. 
> 
> His career included work as a radio and television writer and
> producer before his life was changed by the publication of The
> Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in 1979. 
> 
> The satirical tale chronicled the journey of alien Ford Prefect and
> his human companion Arthur Dent throughout the universe after the
> destruction of Earth. 
> 
> It centred around the search for an answer to life, the universe,
> and everything - which turned out to be 42. 
> 
> The novel went on to sell more than 14 million copies worldwide and
> was followed by the sequels The Restaurant at the End of the
> Universe, Life, the Universe and Everything and So Long and Thanks
> For All the Fish. 
> 
> In recent years the author had been working on a Hitchhiker's Guide
> movie. 
> 
> There was much speculation about who would play Arthur Dent, with
> Hugh Laurie, Rowan Atkinson, Jim Carrey, Ben Affleck and even Bruce
> Willis said to be in the running. 
> 
> Adams married Jane Belson in 1991 and had a daughter, Polly, in
> 1994.