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:

"The Man from Earth", Released Nov. 2007

On recommendation by a friend at college, I watched this movie a while back. And I must say, it's one of the most simply made films I've seen in a long time. But don't let simplicity cloud the ingenuity behind the plot. I mean, how often have you seen a movie in which 6-7 people sit in a room, chat and create a blockbuster. The beauty of the movie is accentuated by the soundtrack "Forever" by Chantelle Duncan, featured at the end.(Click on the link to download the song and see what I mean)
The story is Jerome Bixby's last work, which he completed on his deathbed in April 1998, after starting it in the early 1960s. Bixby dictated the last of his screenplay to his son, screenwriter Emerson Bixby. After Jerome Bixby's death the script was given to Richard Schenkman to direct on a $200,000 budget, which is pretty low by all standards. That's understandable by the fact that the whole movie was shot in 1 room.
The lead role,Professor John Oldman, is played by David Lee Smith, who claims to be 14,000 years old from the Upper Paleolithic era. No, it's not a case of incarnation; John has walked across ages exploring religions and nature across the globe. To avoid being discovered, he moves on every 10 years leaving his past to become history.
I shall not reveal any more of the suspense... For movie lovers, I'll just say one thing-"You can thank me once you've seen it". And for those of you who just want to know the full story, proceed to the following link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_From_Earth
For more details on the cast and the men behind the movie, you can visit the movie's official website, http://www.manfromearth.com/index.html