Nov 05 2008
“Jurassic Park” Author Michael Crichton Dies In Los Angeles
Michael Crichton, author of box office hit “Jurassic Park” and creator of the long running television series “ER”, died November 4 after a long battle with cancer. He was 66 years old.
Crichton, the son of a journalist, began writing at an early age and published his first best seller, “The Andromeda Strain”, while still a student at Harvard Medical School. His longtime interest in exploring the connection between scientific advancement, and how those advancements could be manipulated by mankind, created the essence of his greatest works.
Early in his career, Crichton also became interested in turning his words into visual art. He wrote and directed movies while still churning out best sellers, and several of his films were instrumental in the innovation of the special effects industry.
His first film, “Westworld”, about a futuristic theme park that goes haywire, was the first film to employ 2D computer generated imagery. And his film “Futureworld” advanced that technology.
Crichton became a master of combining the realistic possibilities of science with the realistic possibility of, “What if something goes wrong?” And it was that “what if” theme that Crichton employed in such films as “The Terminal Man”, “Congo”, Jurassic Park”, and the Jurassic Park sequel, “The Lost World”.
It was also what endeared Crichton to his fans.
