Michael Crichton

Michael Crichton has died. I listened to him give an interview on the Dennis Miller show about a month ago, so this came as a complete shock. The cause of death is listed as cancer but his family - which obviously did a great job of keeping his illness private - is not releasing any other details at the moment.

As a writer, Crichton was not what you would call a great stylist, but his novels were packed with inventive and exciting story lines and he was able to take often very complicated science and make it accessible for the average reader. He's probably best known for his two Jurassic Park novels (and the subsequent blockbuster movies) and as one of the creators of ER. I am particularly fond of the original movie version of The Andromeda Strain (1971) and his original movie Westworld.

In recent years, Crichton has been an outspoken critic of "junk" science, including Global Warming Theory. You can read his 2003 speech "Aliens Cause Global Warming" here. In addition, his early-90's predictions about "Mass-Media Extinction" look to be coming true, if largely self-inflicted. An interview at Slate this past May makes him look even more prescient about the October financial collapse.

Michael Crichton, dead at 66. He will be missed.