As you all know, the brilliant Michael Crichton just passed away from cancer. I met Michael a few times back in the early nineties when I was president of the West Coast branch of PEN (we were trying to get him for fund raisers) and was totally intimidated. How could one person be so smart and so tall? Well, he was. He was also a global warming skeptic, as most of you probably know, which apparently disturbed the bien pensants like Charlie Rose. I don’t blame Charlie for being agitated. Like most of his class, he wanted to believe in the validity of AWG but would have to feel as intimidated as I by Crichton’s scientific knowledge. It’s not comfortable to have to deal with someone who can so easily rattle your assumptions when you don’t have the expertise to defend yourself. I remember reading somewhere that Gore refused to debate Crichton. I’m not sure this is true, but it makes sense.
Apropos AWG, it’s interesting to compare the BBC’s obituary of Crichton with this complaint about the network.
The only consolation is that Crichton himself would laugh out loud at these absurd death notices. The guy who wrote Michael’s obituary for VARIETY included the idiotic line: “Perhaps because of similar views on (global warming), Crichton was also one of the few novelists to get along well with President Bush.”
As Michael himself said on The Charlie Rose Show, he met Bush once. I’m sure that guy at VARIETY will be writing obituaries for a long time.
As for Rose, he was always respectful, if bemused by Crichton. Rose is mostly even-handed and with guests like Michael Moore, will take the conservative view to keep the show interesting.
Happily, Crichton can still defend himself. Most of his speeches and interviews are only a Google click away.
Global warming aside, it’s sad to lose so great a talent. It probably marks the end of the intelligent science fiction thriller.
(As for Al Gore, has he debated anybody? He’s more like the self-appointed Pope of the global warming religion, and not subject to inquisition, especially by the heretics themselves.)
Anyway, the loss of Crichton leaves the world a little dumber (not to mention louder, as Mayor Quimby might say).
Scott
“I’m not sure this is true, but it makes sense.”
The odds are overwhelmingly likely that Al Gore refused to debate the late and brilliant Michael Crichton. And why should that surprise anyone? Gore and his fellow global warming cohorts consistently run away from their critics. This has been their standard response since the global warming nonsense began. There are admittedly numerous anti-science conservative Republicans. Nonetheless, they are greatly outnumbered by the leftist anti-science people within the Democratic Party—possibly by even a ten to one margin.
I felt sadder than I would have expected at his passing. I think it was the timing. Just as Obama is elected, and I expect a huge AGW push from his Administration and its supporters, a truly smart and reasonable questionner of AGW passes away…ugh. Just when his voice is needed to instill some sanity into the public debate, he’s no longer there. He was always a good interview. Also, despite being 66, he just looked some damned good, much younger than his years.
I was never a fan of his writing, but respect him as an original and courageous thinker (and loved ER for the first 6 or 7 years). We need more like him, not less.
Kind of OT but since the topic is about an author…..
I saw a review of the KINDLE. Do any of you voracious readers have this techie deal.
Promoguy: Charles Johnson, on Little Green Footballs, loves it. He wrote about it recently.
Me, I’m a voracious reader, but I’ll take a pass.
Scott
Crichton was a brilliant mind. His medical degree stands as testimony to his intellectual ability, and his novels provided, I suspect, a far better standard of living than he might have enjoyed otherwise. His scientific insight allowed him to see through and dismantle the fraud of global warming. History will show him as a giant compared to the charlatan dwarf named Gore.
I’ve got the Kindle. It really is as wonderful as everyone says it is. You can carry hundreds of books on it, and the screen is fantastic. The best part is that a lot of classics are only $0.99. All of those books you never got around to reading in college — Rousseau, Tacitus, etc. — are only $0.99. Since their copyrights expired long ago, they are cheap. You can also get public domain books for free but it’s a hassle, I find it more convenient to pay $0.99 for them. Recent books are cheaper too, the Kindle edition of most bestsellers is only $9.99. The same book in hardcover at a big discount store like Costco or Wal-Mart costs $12-$14. Older books are cheaper still, $5.99 or $7.99.
I just wish Roger’s novels were available on the Kindle. It’s probably not up to him — his publishers probably make those decisions — but if the books were available on the Kindle I would buy them.
The interesting thing about the Kindle is that it is the first electronic gadget I know of that appeals to the English majors rather than the engineers. When it came out, I was like “I’ve got to get me one of those!” In fact, I ordered it on the first day it was for sale — something I never, ever do. The geeks were completely disinterested and criticized the lack of a color screen, the flash memory capacity, etc. I don’t know of any tech people who bought the Kindle.
It really is a great gadget and probably does represent the future of books. It’s really nice to be able take a whole library with you on trips and download books right away.