Michael Crichton Has Died

According to /Film, author and director Michael Crichton died yesterday from an unpublicized case of cancer. He was 66.

For those who do not know (and if you don't, you should be ashamed of yourself), Crichton is the writer of such novels as Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain, The Great Train Robbery, Disclosure, Timeline, Congo and many others. His books have been adapted to film many times (and they haven't always turned out great, as in the case of Congo). Crichton co-wrote the screenplay for Steven Spielberg's film adaptation of Jurassic Park with screenwriter David Koepp. He also directed film such as The First Great Train Robbery and Westworld. Lastly, he created the television show ER.

This is pretty sad news for me. Not only is Jurassic Park one of my favorite movies, it is one of my favorite novels ever. I have read it twice (most recently this past summer, along with The Lost World) and it's a really wonderful piece of writing. I'm not sure if I can imagine a world where that book and film didn't exist. It's a really terrible thought. Crichton was one of those rare writers that was able to create entertaining thrillers that still managed to be very logical and filled with scientific background to back things up. He was obviously a very intelligent man and it's a real shame to see him go, especially so suddenly and unexpectedly. 

R.I.P. Mr. Crichton. You will be missed.

Source: /Film