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?