🚀 go-pugleaf

RetroBBS NetNews Server

Inspired by RockSolid Light RIP Retro Guy

7 total messages Started by Pops Mear Wed, 05 Nov 2008 22:58
RIP, Michael Crichton, "Andromeda Strain" author
#1124
Author: Pops Mear
Date: Wed, 05 Nov 2008 22:58
71 lines
5075 bytes
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2008/11/michael-crichto.html

Jacket Copy - latimes.com


Michael Crichton, dead at 66



Author Michael Crichton has died at age 66 after "a private battle
with cancer." Crichton's career was probably one of a kind: After
training as a doctor at Harvard and working as a fellow  at the Jonas
Salk Institute, he became a bestselling author, then a successful
screenwriter, award-winning movie director and TV producer. The move
"Jurassic Park," based on his book and on which he shared
screenwriting credit, is the No. 10 top grossing film of all time.

Crichton first reached the bestseller lists in 1969 with his book "The
Andromeda Strain." "This book recounts the five-day history of a major
American scientific crisis," the acknowledgments page begins. It seems
to chronicle an actual event, including "real" scientific documents
and transcribed communications of a crisis of Earth's contamination by
an extraterrestrial  microorganism.

    A man with binoculars. That is how it began: with a man standing
by the side of the road, on a crest overlooking a small Arizona town,
on a winter night.

    Lieutenant Roger Shawn must have found the binoculars difficult.
The metal would be cold, and he would be clumsy in his fur parka and
heavy gloves. His breath, hissing out into the moonlit air, would have
fogged the lenses. He would be forced to pause to wipe them
frequently, using a stubby gloved finger.

    He could not have known the futility of this action. Binoculars
were worthless to see into that town and uncover its secrets. He would
have been astonished to learn that the men who finally succeed used
instruments a million times more powerful than binoculars.

    There is something sad, foolish, and human in the image of Shawn
leaning against a boulder, propping his arms on it, and holding the
binoculars to his eyes. Though cumbersome, the binoculars would at
least feel comfortable and familiar in his hands. It would be one of
the last familiar sensations before his death.

In my 1970 Dell paperback, that's the end of Page 1. Pow! He sets the
reader up, gets you right into Shawn's place in that cold night,
holding binoculars and leaning on that boulder, then he kills him. All
at once you want to know more: What killed him? What happened? Who's
telling this story, and how does he know all this? And as he gets
these questions going, he implies to the reader that they're like
Shawn in another way: This book is going to feel unfamiliar. But the
storytelling voice has enough confidence (the storyteller survived,
and knows all) that you're reassured that you're in good hands.

Crichton liked to put his characters in a scientifically manipulated
peril. He did it again in the film "Westworld," in which lifelike
human robots in an amusement park run amok. In "Jurassic Park" too;
there, re-vivified dinosaurs in an amusement park run amok. Then there
was "Congo," in which scientists on an expedition are attacked by
strange gorillas; "Prey," in which nanotechnology goes wrong; and
"Next," in which genetic engineering goes wrong.

In 2004, Crichton stirred controversy by questioning global warming in
his book "State of Fear" and making statements such as "I'm saying
that environmental organizations are fomenting false fears in order to
promote agendas and make money."

But controversy didn't affect his popularity; as of this writing, his
official website has been swamped; there's a memorial page there, if
you can get the site to load.
Re: RIP, Michael Crichton, "Andromeda Strain" author
#1125
Author: Mark C
Date: Thu, 06 Nov 2008 00:37
78 lines
5478 bytes
"Pops Mear" <PopsMear@here.usa> wrote in message 
news:b694h4l1b3ther9d8jj3aaaau39l9gepvl@4ax.com...
> http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2008/11/michael-crichto.html
>
> Jacket Copy - latimes.com
>
>
> Michael Crichton, dead at 66
>
>
>
> Author Michael Crichton has died at age 66 after "a private battle
> with cancer." Crichton's career was probably one of a kind: After
> training as a doctor at Harvard and working as a fellow  at the Jonas
> Salk Institute, he became a bestselling author, then a successful
> screenwriter, award-winning movie director and TV producer. The move
> "Jurassic Park," based on his book and on which he shared
> screenwriting credit, is the No. 10 top grossing film of all time.
>
> Crichton first reached the bestseller lists in 1969 with his book "The
> Andromeda Strain." "This book recounts the five-day history of a major
> American scientific crisis," the acknowledgments page begins. It seems
> to chronicle an actual event, including "real" scientific documents
> and transcribed communications of a crisis of Earth's contamination by
> an extraterrestrial  microorganism.
>
>    A man with binoculars. That is how it began: with a man standing
> by the side of the road, on a crest overlooking a small Arizona town,
> on a winter night.
>
>    Lieutenant Roger Shawn must have found the binoculars difficult.
> The metal would be cold, and he would be clumsy in his fur parka and
> heavy gloves. His breath, hissing out into the moonlit air, would have
> fogged the lenses. He would be forced to pause to wipe them
> frequently, using a stubby gloved finger.
>
>    He could not have known the futility of this action. Binoculars
> were worthless to see into that town and uncover its secrets. He would
> have been astonished to learn that the men who finally succeed used
> instruments a million times more powerful than binoculars.
>
>    There is something sad, foolish, and human in the image of Shawn
> leaning against a boulder, propping his arms on it, and holding the
> binoculars to his eyes. Though cumbersome, the binoculars would at
> least feel comfortable and familiar in his hands. It would be one of
> the last familiar sensations before his death.
>
> In my 1970 Dell paperback, that's the end of Page 1. Pow! He sets the
> reader up, gets you right into Shawn's place in that cold night,
> holding binoculars and leaning on that boulder, then he kills him. All
> at once you want to know more: What killed him? What happened? Who's
> telling this story, and how does he know all this? And as he gets
> these questions going, he implies to the reader that they're like
> Shawn in another way: This book is going to feel unfamiliar. But the
> storytelling voice has enough confidence (the storyteller survived,
> and knows all) that you're reassured that you're in good hands.
>
> Crichton liked to put his characters in a scientifically manipulated
> peril. He did it again in the film "Westworld," in which lifelike
> human robots in an amusement park run amok. In "Jurassic Park" too;
> there, re-vivified dinosaurs in an amusement park run amok. Then there
> was "Congo," in which scientists on an expedition are attacked by
> strange gorillas; "Prey," in which nanotechnology goes wrong; and
> "Next," in which genetic engineering goes wrong.
>
> In 2004, Crichton stirred controversy by questioning global warming in
> his book "State of Fear" and making statements such as "I'm saying
> that environmental organizations are fomenting false fears in order to
> promote agendas and make money."
>
> But controversy didn't affect his popularity; as of this writing, his
> official website has been swamped; there's a memorial page there, if
> you can get the site to load.

x2...

Mark in MD 
Re: RIP, Michael Crichton, "Andromeda Strain" author
#1681
Author: Al
Date: Thu, 06 Nov 2008 02:12
13 lines
1311 bytes
In article <C4adnXM4-bDAoY_UnZ2dnUVZ_rDinZ2d@giganews.com>,
 "Mark C" <krucam2RMV@verizonRMV.net> wrote:

> "Pops Mear" <PopsMear@here.usa> wrote in message 
> news:b694h4l1b3ther9d8jj3aaaau39l9gepvl@4ax.com...
> > http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2008/11/michael-crichto.html
> >
> > Jacket Copy - latimes.com
> >
> >
> > Michael Crichton, dead at 66

Trivia question. What was the title of his first book?
Re: RIP, Michael Crichton, "Andromeda Strain" author
#1684
Author: pitchforks&torches
Date: Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:37
29 lines
2447 bytes
"Al" <albert.finney000@gmail.com> wrote in message 
news:albert.finney000-F5C73E.21125605112008@america.usenet-access.com...
> In article <C4adnXM4-bDAoY_UnZ2dnUVZ_rDinZ2d@giganews.com>,
> "Mark C" <krucam2RMV@verizonRMV.net> wrote:
>
>> "Pops Mear" <PopsMear@here.usa> wrote in message
>> news:b694h4l1b3ther9d8jj3aaaau39l9gepvl@4ax.com...
>> > http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2008/11/michael-crichto.html
>> >
>> > Jacket Copy - latimes.com
>> >
>> >
>> > Michael Crichton, dead at 66
>
> Trivia question. What was the title of his first book?

SuburbanaristicTaxcheatDeadbeatAlbert.FinneySteveRTex_driverSteveRuddEBuddyHeathcliff 
!!!!

You're alive! I was concerned that you might edit yerself outa the big book of losers 
after the Marxists and Socialists stormed yer bunker, and redefined the word MANDATE!

I see you are alive, but not quite sobered-up, yet.

Trivial Answer: look up in the Subject Line, Stupid.

Breathe, stupid, BREATHE!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSSfk7T9DPo 
Re: RIP, Michael Crichton, "Andromeda Strain" author
#1686
Author: Al
Date: Fri, 07 Nov 2008 02:30
7 lines
1180 bytes
In article <J5MQk.5426$as4.704@nlpi069.nbdc.sbc.com>,
 "pitchforks&torches" <shrubimprisoned@thehague.com> wrote:

> 
> Trivial Answer: look up in the Subject Line, Stupid.

Try again.
Re: RIP, Michael Crichton, "Andromeda Strain" author
#1689
Author: Al
Date: Fri, 07 Nov 2008 03:57
19 lines
1776 bytes
In article <vfPQk.6563$ZP4.3694@nlpi067.nbdc.sbc.com>,
 "pitchforks&torches" <shrubimprisoned@thehague.com> wrote:

> "Al" <albert.finney000@gmail.com> wrote in message 
> news:albert.finney000-1F5CE4.21303306112008@america.usenet-access.com...
> > In article <J5MQk.5426$as4.704@nlpi069.nbdc.sbc.com>,
> > "pitchforks&torches" <shrubimprisoned@thehague.com> wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> Trivial Answer: look up in the Subject Line, Stupid.
> >
> > Try again.
> 
> WHACK!!!
> 
>  Nailed it! Eeewwww....now there's Rudd crud all over my mallet. 

If you used google instead of a a mallet, you wouldn't get those nasty 
headaches. Try again, it's not all *that* hard.
Re: RIP, Michael Crichton, "Andromeda Strain" author
#1687
Author: pitchforks&torches
Date: Fri, 07 Nov 2008 04:13
14 lines
1976 bytes
"Al" <albert.finney000@gmail.com> wrote in message 
news:albert.finney000-1F5CE4.21303306112008@america.usenet-access.com...
> In article <J5MQk.5426$as4.704@nlpi069.nbdc.sbc.com>,
> "pitchforks&torches" <shrubimprisoned@thehague.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> Trivial Answer: look up in the Subject Line, Stupid.
>
> Try again.

WHACK!!!

 Nailed it! Eeewwww....now there's Rudd crud all over my mallet. 
Thread Navigation

This is a paginated view of messages in the thread with full content displayed inline.

Messages are displayed in chronological order, with the original post highlighted in green.

Use pagination controls to navigate through all messages in large threads.

Back to All Threads