Four years ago today, the world lost the brilliantly creative imagination of Douglas Adams, at the dreadfully young age of 49. The BBC Obituary was one of many sites to report upon his death and celebrate his life and work.
I can still remember the sense of disbelief and loss, but it wasn't till about May 13th that I finally heard the news. I was on vacation in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina at the time, and often far from the internet and current events. When I did find out what had happened, I found it almost spooky that I'd been relaxing on the beach for the past few days, busily re-reading all five volumes of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy for the first time in several years.
It is such a shame that the world was robbed of such a great mind. Douglas was such a wonderful thinker, and his analysis of even the smallest little event, thing or idea was a delight to listen to or read about. Whenever I see or hear interviews with Douglas I'm always impressed with his infectious enthusiasm about whatever subject has currently taken over his thoughts.
I have to thank him for his book Last Chance To See, without which I wouldn't have this website to write this post on. Douglas Adams has been an inspiration to me and has fired my imagination and learning in many different ways. I know so much more about endangered animals now, and it's been a real eye-opener and education.
Thank you.
Gareth
2 comments:
After Mostly Harmless, I kinda slacked off on Douglas Adams for a few years - occasionally re-reading all the books, but not actively seeking out anything new by him (which is good, 'cause there really wasn't anything much). I think it must have been sometime in 1999 or 2000 that I saw the tail end of a NOVA special about endangered species (or something like that) and it reminded me of Last Chance To See and I began to wonder what Douglas was up to. I discovered douglasadams.com and tried to catch up. I found the tattered remnants of the Voyageur company online and managed to order a CD-ROM copy of Last Chance To See in January 2001. I even ordered a copy of Starship Titanic from amazon.com and began going to the website of The Digital Village to enhance the experience. I was back in the Douglas Adams swing. I remember feeling pretty down about the world in general one day and thought that the most positive thing I could think of was that Douglas Adams was out there, making wry and clever observations about it all.
And then he died.
So, yes, thank you to Douglas, for making the world a better, happier place. And thank you, Gareth, for picking up this torch and running with it.
It's the 20th anniversary of the Aye-Aye expedition. Do you think anyone is planning anything special for this year, or for the 20th anniversay of the LCTS expeditions in 2008?
Harold
I have heard some rumours about a possible follow-up to Last Chance To See. I'll be posting about it sometime within the next week or so, so stay tuned...
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