I know of Sir Arthur mainly through the film 2001, which is a great,groundbreaking movie (I know I’m not saying anything new about it). I will definitely take out his books from the library next time I go.

that was a really nice sentiment, Mr. Murphy

Loved the 2001 series and the subject matter of The Light of Other Days still gets into my head every now and then.

It’s sad to hear that someone who could make science fiction feel so real and obtainable is gone.

http://lucis.net/stuff/clarke/star_clarke.html

“overhead, without any fuss, the stars were going out.”

Another star has dimmed.

He had claimed, years ago, that “Fountains of Paradise” was to be his last book, and ever since I’ve bought each of his novels on publication date — assuming each one was to be his last. Fittingly, it truly will be “The Last Theorum” this November.

Random thought: It was kinda cool to know that I kinda knew somebody in Sri Lanka.

Other random thought: In 1965, my father — who owned an Esso station on Main Street in Flushing, NY — fixed the tire on Clarke’s rent-a-car when he came to New York see the World’s Fair and to meet with Kubrick about maybe collaborating on a movie. Which taught me that some moments aren’t known to be historic until years later.

And as it was with Kubrick before him, the world will be an emptier place with his passing.

When Kubrick made “2001″, he was so ahead of his time with a “serious” sci-fi film that there was nothing to equal it for many, many years. I remember wanting to see it as a kid when it was re-released in the early/mid-70s. My poor mom saw the “The Ultimate Space Odyssey” tag line and, not being particularly erudite, viewed it with suspicion and vetoed the idea. Fooey!

I think one of the most powerful things that can be said about Clarke is that he taught people to dream about the future and make it happen. His fearless insight into space exploration, satellite communication, etc., brought the world into an entirely new age wholly different from the world in which he was born. And that insight has been an object lesson for thousands of thinkers around the world pushing toward whatever frontier we as a species embark upon next.

I won’t lie, even as an avid consumer of wordy scifi I often found his prose difficult to get through, but there is no doubt that he created awesome worlds, and the fact that he put so much of his heart and soul into the “2001″ film earned him the status of film legend on top of all his other accomplishments.

He’ll be missed.