Michael Crichton, author of bestselling science fiction adventures, including Jurassic Park and The Andromeda Strain, died of cancer in Los Angeles, aged 66, his family said on Wednesday.
“Michael Crichton died unexpectedly in Los Angeles Tuesday, November 4, 2008, after a courageous and private battle against cancer,” a statement posted on the author’s Web site said.
Crichton wrote numerous blockbusters, some of which sold more than 100 million copies and were translated into 30 languages. He also created the international hit television hospital drama series E.R., which was screened around the world.
The Andromeda Strain, which catapulted Crichton to Hollywood fame after it was published in 1969, told the story of US scientists battling an alien virus that lands in New Mexico from outer space and drives humans to bizarre and grisly deaths.
In Jurassic Park, made into a blockbuster 1993 movie, Crichton’s human characters were chased around by rampaging dinosaurs brought to life by scientists.
“The world knew him as a great story teller that challenged our preconceived notions about the world around us — and entertained us all while doing so,” the family statement said.
His “family and friends knew Michael Crichton as a devoted husband, loving father and generous friend who inspired each of us to strive to see the wonders of our world through new eyes,” it said.
“Through his books, Michael Crichton served as an inspiration to students of all ages, challenged scientists in many fields, and illuminated the mysteries of the world in a way we could all understand,” it said. “He leaves behind the greatest gifts of a thirst for knowledge, the desire to understand, and the wisdom to use our minds to better our world.”
The family appealed for privacy and said no details of the writer’s funeral would be released.
Crichton was born in October 1942 in Chicago, Illinois. He studied anthropology at Harvard and also taught at Cambridge University in England before spending time in Europe and North Africa.
He then returned to the US to train as a doctor, writing thrillers to pay his school fees.
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
DENIAL: Musk said that the ‘New York Times was lying their ass off,’ after it reported he used so much drugs that he developed bladder problems Elon Musk on Saturday denied a report that he used ketamine and other drugs extensively last year on the US presidential campaign trail. The New York Times on Friday reported that the billionaire adviser to US President Donald Trump used so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he developed bladder problems. The newspaper said the world’s richest person also took ecstasy and mushrooms, and traveled with a pill box last year, adding that it was not known whether Musk also took drugs while heading the so-called US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Trump took power in January. In a
It turns out that looming collision between our Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies might not happen after all. Astronomers on Monday said that the probability of the two spiral galaxies colliding is less than previously thought, with a 50-50 chance within the next 10 billion years. That is essentially a coin flip, but still better odds than previous estimates and farther out in time. “As it stands, proclamations of the impending demise of our galaxy seem greatly exaggerated,” the Finnish-led team wrote in a study appearing in Nature Astronomy. While good news for the Milky Way galaxy, the latest forecast might be moot
RSS