R.I.P. Arthur C. Clarke March 18, 2008
by Anthony Pascale , Filed under: Sci-Fi , trackback
AP is reporting that legendary science-fiction writer and futurist Arthur C. Clarke passed away at his home in Sri Lanka after suffering from breathing problems. The author of over 100 books was 90. Clarke never wrote for Star Trek, however he certainly had an influence many of those who were involved with Trek , including creator Gene Roddenberry.
In a 2006 essay commemorating the 40th Anniversary of Star Trek, Clarke showed that he was clearly a fan and that he apparently did have an influence on Trek’s creator. Here are a couple of excerpts:
Appearing at such a time in human history, Star Trek popularised much more than the vision of a space-faring civilisation. In episode after episode, it promoted the then unpopular ideals of tolerance for differing cultures and respect for life in all forms – without preaching, and always with a saving sense of humour.
Over the years, the sophistication of storylines and special effects has certainly improved, but Star Trek retains its core values – still very much needed in our sadly divided and quarreling world.
Although Gene and I met only a few times, we had a warm friendship that lasted twenty years. I am proud to have played a part in creating one of the great icons of our time – as Gene reminded my biographer, Neil McAleer, when he made an extremely generous assessment of my contribution. Nor was this the first time; in 1987, he wrote for my seventieth birthday felicitation volume: “Arthur literally made my Star Trek idea possible, including the television series, the films, and the associations and learning it has made possible for me.”
Clarke Trek refs
There are a number of references to Clarke’s 2001 A Space Odyssey, including a quote on the Dedication plaque of the USS Odyssey “Its origin and purpose, still a total mystery.” Also, on Enterprise, Captain Jonathan Archer’s father contracted a disease named “Clarke’s Disease.” In addition it could be argued that Clarke’s 3rd ‘law of prediction‘ (”Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”) was the source of this exchange in the TNG episode “Where No One Has Gone Before”
KOSINKI
You’re asking us to believe in magic
THE TRAVELER
Yes, I guess from your perspective it does seem like magic.
Much more on Clarke at Wikipedia and The Arthur C. Clarke Foundation.
Loading ...
Comments»
RIP, We’ll all be on that odyssee someday!
good man.
In Star Trek XI there will should be a reference, graphic, mention, of the
starship, USS Arthur C. Clarke
Wow, that’s to bad. I loved that guy.
A sad loss,, and will be very much missed
so sad — he was a brilliant humanist in addition to all his other smarts.
A few years ago I bought at auction Herb Solow’s copy of the letter mr Clarke sent to gene Roddenberry with advice on the naming of Picard and others. The fact that it was from Clarke was even cooler to me than the fact that it was initialed by gene Roddenberry.
Such a bright, sweet, and optimistic man. He apparently knew he was close to death, and filmed a video in December where he said ‘goodbye’ to fans & friends. He will be missed.
PS - I agree with #2, if there’s any way to fit in a small tribute to Clarke in Trek XI it would be very fitting.
He was a pioneer, that’s for sure. I remember reading a story during the production of 2010 (I think it was that film) where he and the director were e-mailing script changes back and forth across the world–and this was in 1983 or 84, the days of 300-baud CompuServe-type services. I always thought that was pretty cool :)
.
I agree with 2 and 6 — I hope that the new Trek movie will have a dedication to all those who have gone before into the great unknown, and naming specifically Dr. Clarke. What a great man he was, and what a great loss to all of us now that he has passed!
I’m sure i read somewhere that he was consulted by GR for TMP…maybe its in the making of TMP
Great Man. He will be surely missed. His stories helped sci-fi become something far more believable with a coherent storyline and appeal the inner scientist we all have. He influenced many people to study sciences and fight for better future for all.
:(
Goodbye, Mr. Clarke. You were truly one of the absolute icons of Science Fiction. And we are the poorer with your absence. But I have no doubt you have transcended to…something wonderful.
Science Fiction has lost a great man today.
R.I.P. Arthur C. Clarke
Wow, you’d think that would be on my Yahoo page. I haven’t watched the news today and it was a minor shock to log in and see that Clarke has passed. I also didn’t know that he and The Great Bird were friends, although that is not surprising. I certainly hope CNN does a special on him tonight,
One of the GIANTS of SF is gone. A sad day indeed.
Jeez, another childhood hero gone … Asimov and Clarke fill my shelves and entertained me throughout my life .. RIP. but what a legacy he leaves behind …
He actually did a review of Star Trek III for Starlog. He was very fond of Trek.
What disheartening news. Another 20th century genius gone. I was just discussing the passing of Vonnegut a few years ago with a friend. He will surely be missed.
I was just looking at my 2001 poster in my office yesterday and thinking that we probably wouldn’t have him around much longer. Sometimes, it hurts to be right.
A very sad day…
R.I.P. Arthur!!!!
Really sad…and an incalculable loss to humanity and science fiction literature!
Anyone up for a campaign to change the name of Europa?
What can I hope to add, aside from noting the singularity of my own grief? From his early nonfiction book The Promise of Space through “Childhood’s End,” “The City and the Stars,” “Imperial Earth,” and, of course, “2001,” Clarke was a window to a world much larger than most of us are capable of grasping fully, yet he never lost sight of the humanistic values he judged to be all the more important to a species that finds itself but a blip in cosmic history. Yes, he wanted Mankind to journey to the stars, but not so we could just fight wars or build ghettoes at the other end of the journey–he thought we had far greater potential than that. If we manage to survive, I have no doubt that momuments acknowledging his vision will be built in strange and exotic locales long after most of the vain and petty personalities we currently mistake for historical figures are long since forgotten.
For this hardcore secularist, watching 2001 is as close to a religious experience as I can come, and I’ll always be grateful to Arthur Clarke for that, and much more. R.I.P., Sir Arthur.
Another one of the greats…sorry to hear about it. Thank you, Mr. Clarke, for the inspiration.
The only one left I can think of is Ray Bradbury. It makes me want to take a trip to a small town and watch the carnival set up near the wheat fields.
A very great loss to all of us who dream. We must honor him by remembering his sense of wonder.
If JJ or Robert or anyone is reading this — I see a tidbit that NASA calls geosyncronous orbits “Clarke” orbits, because he originated the concept of satellite communication many years before it became fact. That would easily fit into the movie!
ps- I fully confess to reading and believing something about Clarke from 2005. I just checked. It was ultimately retracted by the cussed tabloid — including the quotes from Clarke that they added. If you know what I’m talking about, then know I am sorry NOT to have seen the retraction before this. It appears in Wikipedia’s articles.
Vale… and may you continue to go boldly in strange and wondrous places
“Give me a Clarke orbit, Mr. Sulu!”
Arthur C. Clarke,
Thanks for writing great sci-fi books and you are very much missed. :(
I hope he’s on an Odyssey right now….
“My God, it’s full of stars” (classic line)
Here’s to hoping that one of those stars is him. (raises a toast)
I is sad that so many of the great minds of Science Fiction, from Roddenbrerry and Asimov and Heinlein and now Clarke have already passed away.
And I sure hope that there wil be some sort of dedication within Star Trek XI, it would only seem fitting. Sad also because now he will not see one of his most famous books, Rendezvous with Rama, turned into a movie in 2009. (Unbelievable that it’s already 2008. There was a time when 2001 seemed so far away…)
Childhood’s End was one of my all-time favourites! I will surely miss him!
Rama would look awesome in CGI. I’d love to see them favor the later books, when the characters were more important than the gee-whiz discovery, but I suppose Hollywood likes trilogies anyway.
A great writer and visionary, he will be sadly missed by many I think.
Godspeed, Mr. Clarke! May the odyssey never end…
Goodbye, Mr. Clarke. Thank you for all your imaginings. The realms of both science fact and science fiction are indebted to you.
And yes, a “Clarke” orbit indeed, sirs.
R.I.P. Sir Arthur. What a mind.
To say Arthur C. Clarke was a visionary and a giant of the sci-fi genre is a cliche, but I will say it anyway.
He will be sorely missed.
I’m another longtime Arthur C. Clarke fan; I even had the pleasure of briefly corresponding with him back in the 1980’s when I was in college. He was truly one of the last great grandmasters of science fiction and will be greatly missed. I’d recently read that he had arranged to have his DNA shot off into space after his death; I find that to be a fitting epitath for such an imaginative visionary - in a way, his journey will never end. I also agree that some dedication or reference to him in Trek 11 would be a great idea.
:*(
RIP Mr.Clarke.
You were a giant in the field of science fiction and the author who’s work most closely matched the feeling of humanity, wonder, and exploration which is inherent in Star Trek.
No. 33 Cmdr
They are making Renedezvous to Rama movie.
Ohhho ohhhh #24, is that “Something Wicked This Way Comes”? Made me mess my pants when I first read it in gradeschool. Is Rama really going to be a movie? “Bout time. Loved that one in grade school too. I spent many a lunch break in the school library just reading all these great stories by these great authors. Same for high school and college. Used to hang out at Powell’s used bookstore (2nd largest in the USA) every other weeknight reading scifi books. Great times, great childhood. Thanks Mr Clarke. Thank you. Thanks to all the authors who kept me wondering about the universe…
2001, Rendevous with Rama, The Sands of Mars,Childhoods End,Imperial Earth and so many others, His science fiction was so damned believable, you could read one of his novels or stories and believe that what he portrayed could be the future, it had that level of plausibility. The man was lightyears ahead of the curve and many of his colleagues Whenever I read anything by him I felt a sense of awe,wonder and adventure, that i wanted to be in this place that he created. Not to many writers can give you that sense but he did it better then anybody else. 90 years on this earth is not a bad run and he was at the top of his game for many of those years. Like the late Jack Williamson another great writer , Mr Clark’s career spanned the entire era went from the golden age to the modern era.
Childhood’s End was one of the best horror stories I ever read.
Just caught this on Drudge. Godspeed, Arthur. Even in Heaven, you’ll walk as a Man among men.
R.I.P. Mr. Clark. See you…out there!
This is a very sad day indeed.
I’d just completed my draft of “Rendezvous with Rama” for Morgan Freeman. Though I’d not spoken to Arthur due to his ill health, I understand he had recently asked to read the sript. It is sad that that never came to be. He was quite simply the father of dreams. I have no idea if my draft will become the script that is eventually put to film, but it is my sincerest hope that whatever becomes of the movie, that it honors his memory. Thank you Arthur, for sharing with all of us, your unique vision.
I was published with Sir Arthur in 2005, in the SF anthology Elemental, and it has been a source of great pride that I was asked to adapt one of his great novels.
May he rest in peace, and my thanks for letting me share in his vision.
What can I say that hasn’t all ready been said? From his earliest short stories I read as a youngster to this later novels I enjoyed I my adulthood, this man has had a major impact on who I am. Hence the name Moonwatcher! Rest in peace Arthur….
He will be missed, he was among my first “Hard Science-Fiction” reads and beyond the 2001 saga, i will always remember the 4 rama books that i read when i was 14 years old and opened my eyes as much to the universe at large than the universe that is inside us… I will always be thankful for that… As Stel Pavlou just mentioned i hope that the future “Rendez-Vous with Rama” movie will do him justice.
A towering intellect– a fascinating individual. What we owe him cannot be summed up in words. I have nothing but respect for the Shakespeare of Space.
Foundation.
Genius
A true loss for us all. R.I.P. Mr. Clarke
The mortal coil unwinds…
We lost a great but we still have those parts of himself he shared with us.
Thank you and goodbye, Mr. Clarke.
Something Wicked This Way Comes is by Ray Bradbury.
.
JJ should dedicate the film to him.
they know that
for #55 I mean
2001 is the best science fiction film ever made.
Thank you Mr. Clarke for all of your contributions to making this world a better place.
#60 on that i have no argument, for a film made in 1968 it is still a mind blowing journey into the great unknown i wish i could have seen it on the big screen. The visionary writing of Clark combined with the visionary film making of Kubrick help give science fiction a respectability in cinema that it had never previously had and enabled it to begin coming from out behind the shadow of the b movie stigma it had long been consigned to.
The love of Trek and the love of 2001 came at around the same time in my life… and made me an avid sci fi reader and fan… He will be missed, but his legacy is an immutable monolith standing at the doorway of the future.
We just have to step inside and see where it takes us. But the first step takes courage.
I wonder if he found the answers.
In Star Trek Generations, there was something called an “AE-35 unit” that controlled the main deflector dish. This was clearly a reference to the AE-35 unit that controlled the main antenna in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Someone on that movie must have been a fan of Arthur C. Clarke.
RIP Sir Arthur.
He was a man ahead of his time……….and THEN some!
R.I.P. Arthur C. Clarke
indistinguishable from magic
When I was a kid, about 9 years old, I saw 2001: A Space Odyssey on TV. I didn’t understand 80% of it, but I was really intrigued. I just loved the look, the feel, and the atmosphere of the whole thing. After that, I picked up a collection of Clarke short stories at the bookstore - “The Nine Billion Names of God” — and was completely blown away. All the cliches apply — it was like my mind was opened up, the clouds parted and angels started singing (while quietly, without a fuss, the stars were going out….) and I was led wide-eyed into this new world of not just great stories, but the range of the *kinds* of stories that could be told. I’ll never forget it.
I never really got into Clarke’s novels, but for many years I was almost never without a collection of Clarke (and Bradbury) short stories close at hand. I devoured them for years on car trips, on the bus, at lunchtime, and at night with a flashlight when I should’ve been asleep. Those stories are a big part of the “scenery” of that part of my life, and still mean a lot to me.
And to top it off, the bit with the hominids at the beginning of 2001 was one of the things that started me on the road to my current career.
So I guess what I’m saying is that Clarke’s work was a big deal to me, and I’m glad he was around to write it all.
#65 - Great epitaph.
Favorite Author of all time… I hope everyone read his Time’s Eye Series that just recently came out.
My favorite Science Fiction writer. I think about “Childhood’s End” often. I relate it to so many things happening today. Reading his work, especially when I was young, was so powerful. It left a lasting and strong impression. I’ll miss you, Mr. Clarke, and I am sad today.
He was the best!
Great writer, wonderful person, great presenter!
RIP mister clarke..I have to bite my tongue because mr. clarke held certain views that I find offensive..I mean go ahead and praise him but to me he was no saint..sorry andy, I dont want to appear to be a troll here..If i even mentioned the group he was allegedly affilliated with, I’d be banned for life on this site
“Since the dawn of time, roughly a hundred billion human beings have walked the planet Earth. Now this is an interesting number, for by a curious coincidence there are approximately a hundred billion stars in our local universe, the Milky Way. So for every man who has ever lived, in this universe,there shines a star.”
-From Clarke’s introduction to 2001: A Space Odyssey.
RIP Sir Arthur.
Goodbye, Mr. Clarke
A Great man
“When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong. ”
Arthur C. Clarke, Clarke’s first law
The Adventure is just beginning…
“The Nine Billion Names of God” is one of the finest short stories ever written in the English language. Not limited to science fiction stories, but short fiction of all kinds. The last two lines alone take your breath away for their elegance.
###
“Look,” whispered Chuck, and George lifted his eyes to heaven. (There is always a last time for everything.)
Overhead, without any fuss, the stars were going out.
###
The only short story I can think of as a possible equal is Jack London’s “To Build a Fire”.
—“My God, it’s full of stars”—
RIP, Arthur C. Clarke.
#75 Beerwriter as endings go the 9 Billion names of God, had probably the on of most memorable of all time. His novel Childhoods end also a ending about transendence was both Profound and Nasty, On the Subject of Jack London you Might want to check out his novel The Star Rover, the themes is about astral projection ,Trancendance and reincarnation, not like any thing else he ever wrote.
another book by Clark that is not so well known but its one the last really good books he wrote was The Fountains of Paradise.
Sir Clarke wrote about a space relay system for communications and is credited with inventing the communications satelite.
Their geostationary orbits be called the Clarke Orbit.
What a different world we would have today if not for this contribution.
Now, can someone invent them sonic windscreen wipers he wrote about in Ghost from The Grand Banks? So I can drive me way through the downpours of life… arrrrr
Arthur Clarke provided me with some of my most wonderful childhood memories. I read him voraciously, and was always amazed by the range of his imagination. RIP, Arthur…
Gene Roddenberry was inspired by a Clarke’s book titled “Profiles of the Future”. The world has lost a great visionary and a great TREKKER!!
I’ll miss you, Mr.Clarke
R.I.P. Dr. Clarke, you will be missed.
Now the only remaining major science fiction author from the dawn of the era is Ray Bradbury.
The greatest and most visionary SCIENCE Fiction writer of all time. Arthur C. Clarke stands alone in his unique ability to blend hard science into fiction. He is my all time personal favorite writer. His loss is irreplacable. Thank you Dr. Clarke.
#82 He tops my list of scif authors
1 Arthur C. Clark
2 Alfred Bester
3 Isac Asimov
4 Harlan Ellison
5 Cordwainer Smith
6 Robert Heinlein
7 Theodore Sturgeon
8 Jack Williamson
9 William Gibson
10 Frank Herbert
11 Jose Phillip Farmer
12 James Schmitz
This is the most beautiful thread I have ever read on this site.
My mere words aren’t enough to express my admiration for Mr. Clarkes life, work, & achievements. I have read virtually every book he has authored, and co authored. My library has an entire wall of his works. We will not likely see a visonary such as him for a long time.
Rest in peace
This man was our guide to the future
he’s possibly the only human more let down by the year 2001 than i was.
while we should have been colonizing space, civilization has been dragged into conflict by a religion that wants to keep humanity in the 6th century.
hurrah.
^It’s more than just one religion. The end of the cold war, the shortsightedness of politicians from a dozen nations, the failure of politics, the rise of fanatics, and the comfort of the average citizen. Yes, the average joe who is unwilling to pay a few more cents in taxes.
There will always be conflict, religious or otherwise, that will continue to hamper our efforts to reach the stars. We can not blame one conflict as the reason for the lack of a viable space program; after all the birth of the Apollo missions came as two ideologies blasted a small Indo-China country in a bid for planetary domination.
#87 or we may not reach the stars at all, for the very reasons that you list,.Most of us don’t think grand visions of space travel or whats good for us in the long term. i think more likely we will phase ourselves out due to Pollution, War, New diseases. but before that we will have squandered all our resources on wasteful living an warfare. Contrary to popular myth going green won’t save us, because not all nation practice good environmental or social policy, South America, China India and even here in North America. These things would require sacrifice parts of our lifestyles which most of us are not will to do and Big business would not want us to do(going green cuts into their bottom line).
is it just me or have some posts on this thread been removed?
Anyway, i’m reading Rama for like the zillionth time and can’t wait to see the movie.
R.I.P Sir A.C.C.
The Universe Is Not Only As Strange As We Can Imagine It, It’s Stranger Than We Can Imagine It - Arthur C. Clark
He was right, and still is, each new discovery we make about the universe just shows how strange it is, and it keeps getting stranger with each new discovery.
I hope he’s enjoying his new journey out there in the great unknown.
#88–
As much as it pains my to think that we won’t be going to the stars for all the socio-political reasons, I still have hope.
#91 Ryan please don’t give up because once you loose hope then are truely your lost. which is something that i know a little bit about. I am both a pessimist and cynic and often I look at the dark side of things. This doesn’t make me right about what I say. One of the reasons that I like Clark’s science fiction so much was that i could Imagine the better worlds that he envisioned. We may inspite of our best efforts end up going to of the stars, so cheer up you might see it come to pass.
Farewell, Mr. Clarke. You have broadened my horizons so much over the years.
He lived well and brought so much to so many….off to the stars you go dear friend.
R.I.P. Sir Clarke. I’ve always been a fan of yours. Thanks for all your legacy.
- R.i.P. SCI-FI TITAN …!!!
STAR TREK: NEW VOYAGES or… even JJ AMBRAM’s “ST XI” may pay a tribute to this visionary and genius….. with an intro or… with a starship or a shuttle!!
His contribution to the Gene Roddenberry’s mind and the creation of STAR TREK must be NEVER forgotten!!
Thanks for your books and your thoughts, they enlightened the world!!
We’ll meet some day btw stars, Maestro!!
Just wanted to add my 2 cents. Many thanks to Mr. Clarke for the wonderful stories over the years, and for getting me interested in sci-fi to begin with. There will never be another writer quite like him. From this day on, the world will be a slightly sadder place. Rest in peace on your final odyssey.
Unfortunate. I hope and pray he asked the Lord for forgiveness before he went. If not, he’s not a happy camper right about now. I don’t think he believed in a supreme being for most of his life. Me, I’d rather believe and find out I was wrong than not believe and find out I was wrong. The Lord has been my friend and constant companion for years now. I’ve never felt more free or more at peace than I do today. If you believe and you’re wrong, you’ve nothing to lose…if you don’t believe and you’re wrong, you’ve got everything to lose. Don’t be a loser…ask Jesus for forgiveness…you won’t regret it.
Please don’t assume that all rumors are true. Or that they’re relevant.
And to those who find strength in their religious faith, please don’t presume to impose your beliefs on others. This is not to belittle your faith, but please remember that it is entirely possible for one to be a good person, even if one does not entirely agree with you.
Isn’t that what Star Trek is all about?
With Isaac Asimov long gone and now Arthur C. Clarke, the giants who planted the seeds of today’s science fiction are sadly (mostly) gone.
Hopefully this dreamer of Tomorrow and visionary could have his special place in the Trek Universe as Asimov or Bradbury… Do no forget he was the mind which inspired Gene Roddenberry his creation of Trek!!
Clarke was a great trekker and a human beeing!!
May STAR TREK XI pay him the tribute he deserves!!
He’s full of stars!!!
RIP for a great sci-fi master!! May he be honored!