Douglas Adams Tribute
by Tim Wick
"I think you ought to know I'm feeling very depressed"
- Marvin the Paranoid Android
For most science fiction fans, there are certain defining books, TV series
and films that are part of who we are. Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings,
Star Trek, and 2001 are just a few. Even these classics have their
detractors.
But find me a science fiction fan who can't quote chapter and verse from The
Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy and I will be very surprised. For most of
us, it was the set of books we read right after The Narnia Chronicles and
right before we got into the Dragonriders of Pern. We all know the relevance
of where our towel is, the dangers of time travel, and the answer to Life,
The Universe and Everything. Heck, we even know the name of the computer
that told us the answer (no, I'm not going to insult your intelligence by
poining out the answer is 42 and the computer was Deep Thought).
Douglas Adams latest work may not have been to the level of his great
trilogy, but he gave us enough to last a lifetime with just those three books.
It is perhaps appropriate, then, that he passes from our lives this early -
only 49 - because in some very real sense, he had given us the best of
himself already. I don't wish to imply for a moment that he will not be
missed, only that we should be happy in the knowledge that his greatest gift
remains with us, on our bookshelves, waiting for our children to get old
enough to read them.
Douglas Adams passed away on Friday, May 11th. What he left behind will live
forever. I hope he remembered his towel.
So long, Douglas, and thanks for all the fish - er - books - er - memories -
never mind, you know what I mean.
It was terribly shocking to wake up on Saturday morning and check my e-mail before heading into Marscon and to see that Douglas Adams had died. I never would have expected that. Since I had been staying at home, I had to bring the shocking news to people at the convention -- especially to people at the Doctor Who panel I was on, since Douglas Adams is the most successful person to ever come out of that series. And we were all clearly shocked.
Just the night before, when I had gone to the bar after work, one of my co-workers -- who is originally from Russia -- mentioned how significant Douglas Adams work was to him, and to lots of people in the technology industry. When I was carrying a Palm Pilot for a while, I knew that I had to have it proudly display "Don't Panic!" in large, friendly letters each time I started it up, and I'm not the only person to have done that. And with the Internet, something that he started as a joke is reality.
It wasn't just the Hitchhikers books, the radio play version is considered an all time classic, and one of the greatest science fiction audio dramas of all time. The TV version has jokes a million, and is still how I visualize the characters and universe. Those of us who played Infocom computer games certain remember the classic text adventure -- and the piece of fluff, and the Don't Panic button that came with the package. He was a co-writer and script editor on one of the single greatest pieces of Doctor Who, the classic City of Death. (He also worked on The Pirate Planet and the unfinished Shada.)
One of the first encounters I would have ever had with any sort of real fandom was when Douglas Adams went on a book signing tour when I was in Junior High, under the age of 16, so I wasn't able to drive. He was doing a signing at a science fiction store that was near the U of M campus, which I had never been to. I took the bus there, and instead of getting to my proper destination, I got lost, missed the appropriate transfers, and ended up in down town St Paul instead. I think I even carried a towel with me; after all, I was a kid. But I missed him that day, and in the end never had a chance to get an autograph, or to actually talk to him.
I saw him years later giving a talk at a Microsoft developers conference though.
If you looked at our Favorite Novel Collection we did last year, there were very few books that appeared on multiple people's lists. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy was one of those books. He gave us the phrases and jokes that are a major part of who we are, and that's why I'm so shocked about seeing him go so young, because it's all those little jokes and situations that he provided us that helped explain Life, The Universe, and Everything.
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Based on his belief that people coming to this site give a rip about his
opinion, you have probably guessed that Tim Wick has a pretty big ego.
Despite having no experience as a critic, he insists on writing these boorish
reviews of movies in a vain attempt to feel more important. Since it allows
us to put up new material on the site and keep you all coming back for more,
we go ahead and humor him.
We don't know anything about Tim's past. We assume that he just walked out
of the west like Cain in Kung Fu, but we don't really care. He is a member
of the board of directors for MISFITS and runs the read the book/see the
movie club.
Or so he claims...
Tim listed the Hitchhiker's Guide as one of his favorite books.
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Theorizing that one could time travel within his own lifetime, Michael Lee stepped into the MISFITS Website and vanished .... He woke to find himself trapped on the Internet, facing pages that were not his own and driven by an unknown force to change the MISFITS Website for the better. His only guide on this journey is Professor Maxwell Misfittle, an observer from his own time, who appears in the form of a hologram that only Mike can see and hear. And so Mr. Lee finds himself leaping from site to site, striving to put right what once went wrong and hoping each time that his next leap will be the leap home.
Michael also listed the Hitchhiker's Guide as one of his favorite books
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