Farewell Mike

~Michael Crichton died unexpectedly yesterday of cancer at age 66. He was the writer of many novels (most famously, Jurassic Park) most of which were made into films. He was also a screenwriter, and was the creator of the long-running hospital drama ER.

This is especially sad for me, because Crichton was one of my favorite writers when I was younger. I still remember the first book of his that I read--it was a paperback copy of Sphere, which I ordered from the Scholastic book magazine when I was in Mr. Post's 5th-grade class at Fishkill Elementary. I've read it at least a half-dozen times since then, and I've also read most of Crichton's other thriller novels. As for the film adaptions...well, with the exception of "Jurassic Park", they were lacking, to say the least. I'm still waiting for Jurassic Park 4: Dino-Riders:



I've not enjoyed Crichton's most recent novels. He seemed to become increasingly bitter in his writing, and his novel "State of Fear" is widely viewed as an anti-environmentalist screed (Crichton once famously pronounced that "environmentalism is a religion", angering many). The last book of his I read (and the last one published prior to his death) was Next, about genetic engineering. While it raised some very interesting issues, as a novel it was a failure, with disconnected plot lines that never linked to each other.

Still, I'll miss Crichton's novels; I may not have enjoyed his more recent books as much as his earlier works, but I would always read them and look forward to the next one. He was a master of taking controversial, modern issues and working them into the plots of his books. For example, he has tackled such diverse issues as genetic engineering (Jurassic Park, Next), sexual harassment (Disclosure), cultural clashes (Rising Sun), psychological horror (Sphere), nanotechnology (Prey), vikings (Eaters of the Dead), killer viruses (Andromeda Strain)...you get the idea. His most recurring themes were technology-run-amok, the breakdown of organized systems, and a calm, well-educated protagonist that solved the problem though rational thinking.

Naturally, Crichton's death immediately launched an epic pun threat on reddit based on the titles of his novels:

Don't worry. He'll be buried in amber and one day ...

He fell Prey to The Andromeda Strain...too soon?

Don't get into a State of Fear that you'll be ostracized. It only Congo well for you.

Hes reached the end of his personal Timeline - R.I.P Michael

He literally was The Terminal Man

He's phear of technology was well known.

In the interest of full Disclosure, let's not forget his accomplishments.

Accomplishments that can be seen in the light of the Rising Sun.

What else can we say? What's Next?

Next? There Sphere we'll see Eaters Of The Dead.

He was such a great writer... I feel like his death was a Great Train Robbery. Did he die in the E.R.?

Things You May Not Have Known About Michael Crichton:

• The man was gigantic: 6'9''!!
• He was a graduate of Harvard Medical School, so we should be calling him Dr. Crichton, thank you very much.
  
• He had a dinosaur named after him ("Crichton's ankylosaur", a small, armored plant-eating dinosaur that dates to the early Jurassic Period, about 180 million years ago).
• The lead character of the science-fiction show Farscape, John Crichton, was named after Michael Crichton
• When he was in medical school, he wrote novels under the pen names "John Lange" and "Jeffery Hudson", both of which are subtle references to his unusual height.
• He once wrote a textbook about computer programing titled Electronic Life.

Crichton may be gone, but he won't be forgotten: his last novel will be published posthumously next year. Perhaps you should get yourself down to the library and check it out.