Arthur C. Clarke, Author: 1917 - 2008
Renowned science fiction author and futurist Arthur C. Clarke died Wednesday (Sri Lanka time) after suffering breathing problems. This isn’t strictly film news, but of course Clarke collaborated with Stanley Kubrick on 2001: A Space Odyssey based on Clarke’s story The Sentinel. In the film, it was Clarke’s inspiration to have HAL 9000 singing Daisy Bell as it is shut down by astronaut Dave Bowman. On a visit to Bell Labs in 1962, Clarke had heard an IBM 704 reproduce the song in an early demonstration of voice synthesis.
Through his more than 100 books on science and the future, he is credited with popularizing the concepts of geostationary satellites and space elevators.
Clarke was diagnosed with post-polio syndrome in 1988 and was completely wheelchair bound by 2007.
On the occasion of his 90th birthday in December he said “I want to be remembered most as a writer; one who entertained readers and hopefully stretched their imaginations as well.”
You did a lot more than that, Arthur.
Filed under: News, Obituaries
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Another sad loss. Man. I hate to be vulgar or inappropriate, but that old adage (going in threes) might yet hold to be true. Emphasis on “might.”
I know! I think that every time. Knock on wood.
Phew. Glad you thought so as well. I was worried I was being a tad too morose for my own good.
Here’s Clarke on his 90th birthday:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qLdeEjdbWE
I’m so glad I went to 2001 last week at the Egyptian.
I’m bummed I missed that Christian. With this goddamn blog, I’ve been slacking on retrospectives and old DVDs. Perhaps I need to rethink my priorities next time before sneaking into 3 shitty movies at the multiplex.
Yeah, 2008 is looking like a kind of freaky year in Hollywood.
Shouldn’t there be a 40th anniversary something for 2001 this year? (By the way Craig, you’ve got an extra “y” there, unless I’m missing an odd placed reference to Kevin Spacey.)
If you’re looking for a position as an editor Daniel, I might know of an opening.
Oh F’ing hell…this is more bad news today. I always loved listening to him talk about science and science fiction on documentaries. Like Carl Sagan he had an amazing ability to make science seem like something even a nitwit like me could understand. He had a passion and sense of humor about him that was very warm and inviting.
Very sad news.
Great comparison to Sagan, Joel.
Who is really popularizing science these days? There’s Neil deGrasse Tyson on PBS’ Nova ScienceNOW, but he’s not quite the same.
He’s the guy that believes Pluto shouldn’t be classified as a planet, right? I don’t care for that guy much, even if he is pretty smart.
I just realized Clarke wrote Rendezvous with Rama. I wonder if this means the film is more or less likely to happen?
(sorry…hate to be morbid and discuss business but it’s one of the ways I cope with grief. denial.)
Another sad loss. I enjoyed Clarke’s books and, like others here, his interviews as well. He’ll always have a special place in my heart for his collaboration with Kubrick.
Ha, Craig. Trust me, I’m constantly busy finding my own typos. Dang Getafilm interns never proof their work.
Good question about sci-fi in the 21st century (…waiting for joke about An Inconvenient Truth). I don’t even know what you could say was the last great classical sci-fi movie. Somewhere along the line that crowd went the way of Matrix-style, good v. evil, sometimes overtly religious films. Either that or Marvel took over and comic book superheros are crowding out the science fiction. Of course, Star Trek is on the way, and I’m sure I’m totally forgetting some post-2000 releases, but for some reason I’m only coming up with Contact, which was in the late 90’s and even that was religiously colored. I guess most of sci-fi is to some extent. Somebody jog my memory.
The point is, maybe sci-fi is suffering from a lack of vision from those like Clarke.
Ever see Primer, Daniel? That was some hard Sci-fi there, no religion i can recall. Soderbergh’s remake of Solaris might count, as would Danny Boyle’s Sunshine.
But no, sci-fi is suffering in the theaters while great sci-fi, hard-core nerd sci-fi, is flourishing on book shelves. There have been some slight attempts to bring back sci-fi in the last few years but no groundswell movement is yet visible on the horizon.
It’s odd considering how well the oddball genres are doing these days. Fantasy, horror, westerns, superheroes, hell even pirates are doing just fine. Where is the sci-fi?
I did see all three of those, though I had forgotten about Primer. You’re right, that was quite heady. As I’m known to do from time to time, I looked up some info on the “internet” (if this thing isn’t sci-fi I don’t know what is) and found these when IMDb failed me:
http://digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/movie-pages/movie_sci-fi.html
and
http://www.filmsandtv.com/genre.php?gs=2000Sci-Fi
The first list shows that I hadn’t forgotten too many - the classics are mostly pre-2000. The second list shows that I was still missing a few, including some Philip K. Dick adaptations like Minority Report and A Scanner Darkly. Still, I’d like to hear people defend any of the post-2000 group as a “classic” like Blade Runner or 2001.
How ’bout Will Smith, by the way - Men in Black 1-3, I, Robot, and I Am Legend?
I’m not as much of a reader of sci-fi, but if you’re right, Joel, maybe there’s hope in the next few years. Star Trek will bring out the nerds, to be sure. Even I’ll be there, and I’m no Trekkie.
Rest in peace, Mr. Clarke.
At least he lived to a ripe old age.
Exactly…
2001 is a fabulous, poetic work of art and it all sprang originally from Mr. Clarke’s fevered intellectual dreams.
RIP.
RIP, the last of the great golden-age sci-fi writers, along with Asimov, Bester, Heinlein, and Dick.
Michio Kaku seems to be the closest we have now to a Carl Sagan or Clarke.
I couldn’t agree more Miranda and Alison.
2001 is and always will be groundbreaking.
Rest In Peace.
This day could not get much worse could it?
Yikes, this stings even more for me personally because his writings meant so much. Childhood’s End and The Fountains of Paradise, along with The Sentinel are all quintessential to me.
Yet logically it’s apples and oranges (Minghella and Clarke), as one should have had many more years ahead of him and the other lived to a great old age.
RIP.
No, Nicky. It’s been bloody awful.
But at least it’s over and we’re well into Wednesday. At least here in North America.
Anyone that could tell you definitively why things happen and for precisely what reasons would be the richest person on this planet in no time. Circumstances occur, situations play out and we never know why. Your own personal choices are the only things that you have any control over.
Best thing to do is to get out and enjoy life. Much easier said than done, I know. But your ability to effect change in terms of your own personal existence only goes so far. So do whatever is workable and spend the remainder having a good time.
Might as well. It does go very, very quickly - for all of us…
Good call on Michio Kaku Jeff, though he’s not quite a household name yet.
It’s strange as I’ve been going through personal pain this past week but a lot of these bigger issues of war, death, etc made me feel more grateful, more lucky and I just chalk my little sorrow up to the eternal transcendant stream of life. Plus, I’ve put HANNAH AND HER SISTERS on a loop here. I find it incredibly comforting and hopeful.
And the last film I saw with my woman was 2001 so perhaps something wonderful is coming…
Sorry to hear that Christian. I can understand the comfort you take in HANNAH IN HER SISTERS though, its possibly my favorite Woody Allen film, and that final moment between him and Dianne Weist is one of my favorite scenes in any movie: glorious and ballsy, an act of generosity that fans of Allen know is quite rare.
Sorry to hear of Clarke too, of course, but he did get his time at least, unlike Minghella.
HANNAH AND HER SISTERS is full of so much joy and optimism. However, that’s mostly at the conclusion. The characters have to struggle a lot to get to that place. They’re tremendously grateful that they got there…and so are we.
But it IS an immensely comforting film. It says a lot about the nature of this existence, personal fulfillment and contentment.
Cheer up, christian. Good things will come to you. It all evens out in the end….
Or you die, which is a very even condition.
(sorry, total cynic at heart here)