Friday, November 7, 2008

Michael Crichton: The Literary World loses a great Author


Jurassic Park...Timeline...Andromeda Strain...Coma...Congo
The mastermind behind all those big names has passed on to another world, leaving behind him a trail of stories which questioned and defied the laws of common nature.

Michael Crichton, died at the age of 66 after battling with cancer, on November 5th in Los Angeles. The author has left behind his wife Sherri, daughter Taylor, family, friends and many patron readers. Michael was a student of Harvard Medical School, where he had started writing. Some of his initial work as an author was under two different pseudonyms, John Lange and Jeffery Hudson. There was also a collaboration with his younger brother Douglas under the shared nom de plume Michael Douglas. He dropped his profession in medicine in 1970, when the pen began to dominate the stethoscope.
Crichton has to his credit more than a dozen best selling books, some of which I mentioned at the top, mostly under the category of science-fiction. But at times, he has swung to completely alienated genres and produced best-selling books such as "The Great Train Robbery" and "Disclosure". His work has sold over 150 million copies. Some of his novels have been captured as movies, for example Jurassic Park, The Lost World, Timeline, etc. and have broken box office records.

He is also the creator of "ER" , one of America's biggest Emmy award-winning medical drama TV series. The series is now into its 15th season(which started in Sep. 2008). Being aired on NBC, this show is set primarily in the emergency room of a fictional county hospital.
Crichton's work was an inspiration to many. Though "State of Fear" landed into some amount of controversy for challenging global warming, he was never afraid to challenge scientists from any field. He leaves behind his imprints on our minds and the zeal to ask "WHY" for any natural phenomenon.

For free downloads of some of Crichton's most famous books, click on the collage below:


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