Sad news for me today, gang.  Best-selling science fiction author and medical doctor Michael Crichton passed away today after a private struggle with cancer.  He was only 66 years old, but he leaves behind a body of work that is as good as anyone’s in his genre.  His books, usually a blend of action and medical science, have sold over 150 million copies around the world.

Among his many accomplishments are the Jurassic Park series (and a screenwriting credit on the first film), the brilliant films Westworld and The Great Train Robbery (both of which he wrote and directed), the books The Andromeda Strain and Congo, the screenplay to the megahit Twister, and of course, being the executive producer of the monster hit television series E.R.  In his career he won an Emmy, a Peabody, an Edgar Allen Poe Award, a Writers Guild of America award, he had a dinosaur named after him, and he was one of People Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People in 1992.

He was also one of the first science fiction writers I read.  I’ve read Jurassic Park probably 18 times and am on my second copy of the book.  He’s one of my favorites, and it hits home for me that another one of my heroes has passed on.

Tags: obituaries, Michael Crichton, Michael Crichton dead, Jurassic Park, Congo, Westworld, writer, author, science fiction, Jurassic Park author

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