That smile no matter what

I think he fell into the typical trap of trying to expand into other creative industries for no good reason. He was a major producer/writer on the TV drama ER (at least in the early years, I don't know if he stayed on forever,) and some others. I got the impression he really wanted to do more movies rather than write more books. The book quality definitely suffered--I thought Next was positively stupid. Still, I was very sad to hear he'd died. I had held out hope that the wisdom of years would help him focus on writing again and he could put out another great one.

I'd have to disagree with you Elspode, Sphere was a bad book.

But I give the guy props. I loved Jurassic Park, Adromedra Strain was a fun read, and his movies and ER were good.

My memory of Terminal Man was that it was also really good, though I read it when I was relatively young.

From coast to coast AM..?

I don't think he had anything to be ashamed of given his body of work.

Take a look at the list of his books on wiki.

If it was a downward trend, then it was pretty short. I really like most of his stuff right up until State of Fear. I've read both State of Fear and Next. I thought both jumped around too much.

On the other hand, I really liked both Prey and Timeline which were the books just previous.

I really think it's more a case of no one hitting a home-run every time.

I liked Timeline, I thought it was thrilling. But the whole time I read it, I thought, OK he's writing another hit movie. Jurassic Park set in history. They should still make this one IMO.

I liked Congo alright, but the whole time I read it, I thought, this would really be impossible to make into a movie. And then they made it into a movie... and the movie sucked.

Oh, I give full credit for his earlier stuff for sure. The Great Train Robbery was a brilliant example of his directorial skills, and I watch Andromeda Strain (written by Crichton) at least annually.

A movie version came out in 2003 and from what I remember, it was awful.

Dang! I wasn't even aware of it. They should make a good version.

Miriam Makeba 1932-2008

I am sad.


Photograph by Mark Oppenheimer / (c) public domain

michael crichton and george carlin... i sobbed when george died.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/news_impa..._mitchross.jpg

Wednesday Nov,12th 2008

Mitch Mitchell, the iconic drummer who provided the explosive heartbeat of the Jimi Hendrix Experience on rock classics including "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" and "Purple Haze," was found dead early Wednesday in a Portland hotel room.
Mitchell, 61, who pioneered a fusion style that allowed him and one of history's greatest guitar players to feed off each other, died of natural causes, the Multnomah County medical examiner said. He was found about 3 a.m. in his room at the Benson Hotel in downtown Portland.
Considered one of rock's greatest drummers, Mitchell was behind the kit at Hendrix's legendary sets at Woodstock, Monterey and the Isle of Wight.


Sad because I guess he said he wasn't feeling well at a concert and was dead a couple days later.

I saw in Boston, on her first US tour, with Harry Belefonte. Amazing voice.

I have a horrible feeling I didn't even register this here, but Geoffrey Perkins' passing was noted in my heart, and he was mourned in style at the Comedy Awards recently. I was watching it with my parents and Mum started talking over it. I politely asked her to wait til the tribute was over (I was polite, really).

Afterwards both she and Dad said they had no idea he was so important to British comedy and were sorry he'd died. I can't find the tribute on YouTube sadly.

Personally, I "knew" him from Radio Active (I have no idea why the Beeb haven't released it on CD!) At the end of every show was a list of the cast and of course the producer. Because Geoffrey Perkins was mentioned in both capacities, his name was bound to stick in my mind, especially as I listened to the tapes (technically bootlegs) over and over again. I could still sing you some Radio Active jingles if you like... I can also quote large swathes of Wahey! It's Saturday! but I fear they might lose something in the translation.

ANYWAY.

This man was a giant amongst comedy producers.
Sorry all I have is a radio broadcast. But he wouldn't be.

BTW if you haven't yet discovered Father Ted, get ye to a DVD store!