{"id":161,"date":"2008-03-19T07:59:34","date_gmt":"2008-03-19T12:59:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scifico.org\/sfsn\/?p=161"},"modified":"2008-03-19T08:25:11","modified_gmt":"2008-03-19T13:25:11","slug":"arthur-c-clarke-is-dead-alas-let%e2%80%99s-all-get-together-and-kick-some-ass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/scifisaturdaynight.com\/?p=161","title":{"rendered":"Arthur C. Clarke is dead, alas. Let\u2019s all get together and kick some ass"},"content":{"rendered":"

The title is stolen from the sub title of a novel about Philip K. Dick, but I thought it fitting when I saw the news. In retrospect, I am kinda sick about yesterdays post. At 90 years of age, Mr. Clarke was a visionary from the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Retaining a childlike sense of wonder for the future combined with a hunger for the science of the present, Clarke was a GrandMaster in every sense of the word.<\/font><\/p>\n

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Author of over 70 books, nominated for a Nobel Prize for his writing which formed the basis for communications satellites in 1945, he was the last of the BIG 3 (Heinlein and Asimov) although I have always put Bradbury in the same list.<\/font><\/p>\n

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Clarke, besides predicting comsats, also said there would be a man on the moon by 1970\u00a0 <\/span>and he was correct. One of the founders of the British Interplanetary Society, he was respected by all who knew him. Astronomer, Sir Patrick Moore said today\u201d (he was) a great visionary, brilliant science-fiction writer and a great forecaster.\u201d.<\/font><\/p>\n

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Born in 1917, in Somerset<\/st1:city>, England<\/st1:country-region><\/st1:place>, he joined the RAF during WWII. During this period he was know for both his fiction and technical works. His television commentary alongside Walter Cronkite during the Apollo Missions were\u2026\u2026\u2026.amazing. As a child they stayed with me forever.<\/font><\/p>\n

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Many will remember him as the author of the short story The Sentinel, which was the basis for Stanley Kubrick\u2019s 1964 film \u201c2001, A Space Odyssey\u201d. <\/font><\/p>\n

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On his 90th<\/sup>. Birthday, he posted a a series of greeting to the world on YouTube. They should be required viewing for every single person on earth.<\/font><\/p>\n

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You will be missed by all who know of you, Sir. Gods speed.<\/font><\/p>\n

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