Saturday, October 27, 2012

Celebrating Michael Crichton - Part 2: Discovery


When I was nine years old, my father decided the family was going to see the 1971 film of The Andromeda Strain. (Dad tended to just come home and tell us we were going to see a particular film. I hadn't heard of Star Wars before Dad informed us we were going to see it.)

From my father I inherited a love of both science and science fiction. When I saw The Andromeda Strain, I was enthralled. I pestered my dad with questions all during the movie and for the next several weeks.

Two years later, I read my father’s copy of the novel. And I've been hooked on Crichton's work every since.

How did you discover Michael Crichton and what was the first book you read?

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Celebrating Michael Crichton – Part 1


Today would have been Michael Crichton’s 70th birthday. He died on Tuesday, November 4, 2008, the day of the last presidential election. Hearing about the upcoming election makes me feel sad, and not for any political reasons. It reminds me that we lost Michael Crichton.

In the Jan. 1994 Vanity Fair article “The Admirable Crichton”, Zoe Heller described a memento of Crichton’s 50th birthday celebration. It is a hand-dawn card from a friend. The framed card depicts 50 of Michael Crichton’s favorite things. Heller shared a few of them:

• Theater

• Blondes

• His wife

• His daughter

• Aspen

• Film

• Computers

• Harvard

• Good wine

• Balance

• Clarity

• Brevity

• Vision

• Global thinking

• Strategy

• Direction

• Elegance

• Excellence

• Beauty

I’d love to know what the other 31 things were, and to see the card myself someday.

To celebrate Michael Crichton, I’d like to come up with 70 words that describe and represent him. Unfortunately, I can’t come up with 70 words today, not if I want to do him justice. So I’ll just share one.

What word comes to mind when I think of Michael Crichton?
Stimulating
Crichton had the most stimulating mind I have ever encountered.

What word comes to mind when you think of Michael Crichton?

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