RIP author Michael Crichton
The Associated Press is reporting the death of author Michael Crichton, who wrote dozens of bestsellers including “Jurassic Park” and “Sphere.”
The author, who had been privately battling cancer, was 66.
I went through a heavy Crichton phase in high school, shortly after “Jurassic Park” came out. In 1991, It seemed like that was the book everyone was reading at my school, even people who wouldn’t ordinarily carry a book around. I liked it quite a bit, and tore through the school library’s Crichton section. Of course, Crichton had been around for quite some time as an author before then, so there were several books to choose from.
After “The Lost World” in 1995, I haven’t read another Crichton book. He slowed down publishing them, and I moved onto other authors, I suppose. But I was always glad he’d motivated so many that I knew to pick up a book.
– Matt Price
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I posted the following on my blog, as it’s how I feel about this devastating news…
“I cannot describe how much of an impact “Jurassic Park” had on me, growing up, or his other works. But among his many, many great books, “Jurassic Park” inspired me, elevated me, and opened up a world inside my head that… Well, that I’d always dreamed of.
I grew up intensely passionate about Dinosaurs, and my greatest dream would have been a world where they existed. Michael Crichton brought such a world to lush and vibrant life in his book, and I devoured it. I read it three times in one weekend, that first time I read it. I’ve read it countless times since.
And then Steven Spielberg made a movie that somehow exceeded anything I could imagine, opening the doors for special effects and storytelling.
Crichton’s work has waned over the years, his last book, “Next”, was a wickedly hilarious romp through genetic engineering. But it was books like “Sphere”, “Timeline”, and even “Congo” that held my attention over the last 18 years. His grasp on storytelling, imagination, suspense and the evolution of science and technology was unparalleled, and our generation of scientists, writers, politicians, and tech mavens are better because of it.
My ideal world is that of “Jurassic Park”, where humans can stand next to living, breathing dinosaurs, where science is both scary and awe-inspiring, where the hope for a better tomorrow includes the hope of creatures long since past.
I wouldn’t be who I am today, the writer I continually aspire to be, or even in CA without the influence and inspiration of Michael Crichton.”