Jurassic Disclosure

I surfed onto Yahoo to discover that a favorite author of ours had passed away. Michael Crichton had died at the age of 66. It sucks. He was a prolific author and I enjoyed many of his books. They were never close to being what one would call literature, more "yarns" and I loved that about Crichton. His books were predictable, fun, at times inane, and yet he dealt with subject matter that was complex morally and ethically. I loved that I could contemplate the right and wrong of technological advancement while thrilling ot folks being eaten by Velociraptors. His stuff was always just a lot of fun to read and for the most part I enjoyed the movie adaptations of his books. The original Andromeda Strain is still a favorite of mine that I remember watching with my dad as a kid.

Crichton also created an icon of modern TV, ER. Candace and I have lamented the direction of the series in the last few years but for us it was a chance to sit and enjoy some riveting TV as we were dating and on into our marriage. In fact, Crichton helped us to establish a tradition of reading aloud to each other on road trips and when we go to bed because of his book "Prey". I had bought it for Candace and as she read it I asked what it was about and she replied, "A swarm of nanobots are on the loose in a remote lab and they are trying to kill the people." I needed to know how it all played out of course and it was a lot of fun to share that story together.

It is sad to me that he has written his last tale, and no doubt a book will be released posthumously, whatever it may be. His ouvre is complete now though and like any writer I enjoy it sucks to know that his imagination has ceased speaking. I struggle with what to say because I didnt know him personally and yet I feel his loss because of the loss of those new stories that will now never be written. It is the same way I will feel when my other "pulp" favorites like Clive Cussler and Stephen King eventually pass away. I admire people who tell good stories. I admire what Michael Crichton was able to do. He made me laugh and think at the same time. He made me roll my eyes yet flip to the next page, he had a talent for that. What else is there to say but thank you even though he will never hear it. Thank you Mr. Crichton for writing stories, for bringing your ideas to people and letting them read them and think about them. Thank you for making me imagine what it would be like if someone cloned dinosaurs, or what it would be like to try and fight a swarm of tiny robots. Thank you for Green, and Carter, and Ross, and Frank, and and and. Thanks for using your imagination to fire mine.