November 5, 2008 | by Vic Holtreman 

R.I.P. Michael Crichton

RIP Michael Crichton, Michael CreightonSo we’ve lost yet another prolific Hollywood contributor and author. Michael Crichton died yesterday at the age of 66 from a prolonged battle with cancer.

Michael brought us some of the most well-known Sci-Fi stories in both books and film. He wrote and directed Westworld and Coma, and he wrote novels that ended up on the big screen as well as screenplays. Many of his novels were MUCH better than the movies they were turned into.

Here’s a list of very familiar books (and movies based on his books): Jurassic Park, Twister, The 13th Warrior, The Andromeda Strain, Timeline, The Lost World, Sphere, Rising Sun, Disclosure, Airframe, Prey, State of Fear, and his final book Next. He was also the creator of the TV series ER.

He had a gift for writing stories that seemed to be just on the edge of what is currently possible, and they often had a message of warning us not to be too quick to rush into tampering with nature via science.

His family said in a statement:

“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,”

He will be missed.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Michael’s family.

For more details head over to CBSNews.com.

Related Posts with Thumbnails


Tags:

sponsored links
Ads by Google
  • Patrick
    He is by far one of my favorite authors of all time. I've read almost all his novels and can't wait til i get my hands on his last one.

    RIP...you and your talent will be missed!
  • Ed in PA
    Yes, it did come as a shock of Mr. Crichton's passing. His many talents will be missed. I hope that some producer realizes how interesting a screen version of Crichton's State of Fear would be. Some of the ideas in that novel seem to have been a part of the campaign strategy in the last presidential election.
  • Darwin42
    This came as a shock, I wasn't even aware he had cancer. While I have only read Timeline, that one book blew me away like few others have. He was an exemplary author who could blend reality with fantasy so well that one couldn't tell where one ended and the other began. I plan to read all of his other books and am saddened by the news of his passing.

    My condolences to his family and friends, he will be missed.
  • Jess
    RIP Micheal Your work was incredible and you will be missed.
  • blipvert
    RIP Micheal. You've given me a lifetime of great entertainment in all forms.
  • Dan
    I can tell you right now that this news is shocking and sad. Jurassic Park completely changed the direction of my life, because before I saw it I was going to pursue journalism as a career and then when I walked out of the theater, profoundly altered, I wanted to pursue a career in computer graphics design. I wanted to produce and create something as beautiful as what I had seen on the screen.

    If not for that movie, I don’t know where I’d be right now career wise. It’s pretty remarkable that someone of his caliber could hide a battle with cancer from the public for so long. He was one of the greats in writing novels and producing and creating some of the most revolutionary movies and TV-shows of all time. He will be missed.
  • Ken J
    ALL of his novels were much better than the movies that were made for them. The only one I thought was pretty true to the novel and was pretty good to watch was Andromeda Strain. The old movie, not the new tv mini-series. Jurassic Park was pretty good too but don't think it stuck to the novel very well.
  • Gary
    According to Wikipedia,
    He has one more book which will be released Posthumously.
    The title and subject matter are unknown.
    The release date is May 4th 2009.
  • Andy S
    He was one of my favorite sci-fi writers, with Jurassic Park being one of my all-time favorite books (and I thought the movie was pretty good, too!)

    R.I.P. Michael, the world has lost a great writer and person.
  • steven the git
    The book for the 13th Warrior is Eaters of the Dead. I have it and have to say wasn't impressed. I admired what he was trying to do with it though.

    The scifi stuff was cool though and I found his book for Jurrasic Park much more intelligent than the movie.
  • Dutch
    R.I.P
    though I mourn a loss of another great science fiction writer, i truly hope his family and himself are now at peace. i lost a close relative after a prolonged battle with cancer - and at the end - all she wanted was to leave peacefully, painlessly and with dignity. this disease requires immense resources, psychologically and otherwise. I hope Mr Crichton left in peace, i am sure he's having a blast up there with the rest of them...:)
    fair well.
  • Gary
    This is really sad news.
    My condolonces to his family and friends.
  • We lose another great talent! Seeing Jurrasic Park at the Ziegfeld movie theater twice the day it opened was one of the great movie going experiences of my life! Im also was a big fan of Westworld which he directed! ER is still a favorite of mine so this lose saddens me! R.I.P

    Chuck
  • Evie
    Wow this is terrible. He was one of those rarities in the world. Uber-intelligent and able to get it across so the rest of us could understand.

    Thanks Mr. C for sharing your world with us all those years. R.I.P.
  • Mark
    Jurassic Park was the first adult-level novel I read. I was just wondering the other day if he had anything new coming out. This is sad news indeed.
blog comments powered by Disqus