The opening scene in “2001: A Space Odyssey”
might be remembered as one of the most famous in
cinematic history.
Set to Richard Strauss’ “Thus Spake Zarathustra,”
the film begins with the mysterious appearance of a
monolith, a systematic development of the tools of
prehistoric man and, subsequently, the introduction
of violence.
Filmmaker Stanley Kubrick’s creativity and vision
are apparent in this Oscar-winning movie, but the film
never would have come to fruition were it not for the
literary works of Arthur C. Clarke, who passed away
yesterday in Sri Lanka.
Clarke, originally from Minehead, in Somerset,
England, had a long and prolific writing career.
Born Dec. 16, 1917, to a postal-service engineerturned
farmer and a former post-office telegraphist,
Clarke’s early exposure to communications and
innovation in the field is speculated to have spawned
his interest in the subject. Clarke’s boyhood interest in
stargazing and science fiction no doubt helped foster
his desire to write the genre later in life.
According to various news sources, Clarke served in
the Royal Air Force during World War II as a specialist
for the Ground Controlled Approach radar. During
this time, according to the Associated Press, Clarke
reportedly wrote a memo outlining the use of satellites
for communication purposes, which later almost was
rejected on the grounds of being too implausible.
After climbing the ranks of military service, earning
the title of flight lieutenant, Clarke left the service
and obtained a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and
physics at King’s College in London.
It was during his post-war period that Clarke’s
influential career began to develop. After moving
to London, he joined and later chaired the British
Interplanetary Society and began to write his first
short-story fiction novels and non-fiction articles on
space travel.
Clarke’s lifetime production of written work was
as voluminous as it was influential. “The Sentinel,” a
novella written in 1946, was rejected by a BBC competition
but later was adapted into the aforementioned
1968 film, “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
Clarke’s non-fiction volumes about space flight
earned him the honor of having the geostationary orbit
36,000 kilometers above the equator named “the Clarke
Orbit” by the International Astronomical Union.
Clarke, who was knighted in 1998 amid an unverified
pedophilia scandal, moved to Sri Lanka in 1956. It was
there, in his adopted homeland, that Clarke succumbed
to respiratory problems most likely associated with
the post-polio syndrome he developed in the last 20
years of his life.
Clarke is survived by his brother and sister and
has left behind more than 30 novels, 13 collections of
short stories, 28 non-fiction publications and various
awards and accolades.
According to the Associated Press, when asked how
he would like to be remembered, Clarke responded,
“I have had a diverse career as a writer, underwater
explorer and space promoter. Of all these, I would
like to be remembered as a writer.”
Biographical Information found at: The Associated
Press (www.ap.org), The Arthur C. Clarke Foundation