‘He never grew up; but he never stopped growing.’

‘He never grew up; but he never stopped growing.’

March 19, 2008, 2005
Filed under: news | Tags: arthur c. clarke, authors for autism research, match it for pratchett, news

I was saddened to see that Sir Arthur C. Clarke died today. The New York Times wrote an entry, but it pales in comparison to the sense you got from the man himself. I rather liked La Gringa’s entry on her experience knowing him. I never met him, but when I was younger I would wait for reruns of Arthur C. Clarke’s Mysterious World and the series that followed, and I remember the warmth in his voice when he spoke at the end of episodes. He always had something interesting to say, and I never got the sense he spoke in platitudes.

While he was never one of my favourite authors, I think he was one of the few hard science fiction writers to really bring a sense of wonder, a joy of awakening, and a love of knowing into his works.

When asked by Wired in 1993 if he had put any thought into what he would want on his epitaph, Clarke said he had.

“Oh, yes,” he said. “I’ve often quoted it: ‘He never grew up; but he never stopped growing.'” (Wired)

And really, that’s all I feel I need to say about that.

Here are some other interesting things I stumbled upon, with some good causes to boot if you happen to feel generous:

• Good Cause #1: Authors for Autism Research is an auction running March 23 – April 2 to benefit Autism Speaks. You, yes you, can bid on being a character in numerous authors’ works, including Elizabeth Moon, Christine Feehan, Ken Follet, John Henry (AKA Jack Campbell), and many others. One even promises a death scene!
• Good Cause #2: There’s been a lot of buzz about this on the internets, so I figured I’d do my part and point all of you nice people out there towards Match it for Pratchett, a website aiming to match Terry Pratchett’s million dollar donation to Alzheimer’s research.
• Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review is one year old, so go over and help him celebrate because he’s cool and stuff!
• Pat of Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist has an interesting post about blogging, his style of writing reviews, and so on here. I agree that you can’t really argue with results. Though, the arguing itself can be fun.
• And, if only more housewares were designed with the mythic in mind. Or at least the amusing.

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