Arthur C. Clarke, dead at 90.

And so we lose another one. Sad.

I got to know Clarke a little back when I was involved in SFWA, to the point where we exchanged christmas cards for a while, and a letter or two, and he was an occasional commenter on the zine I was publishing back then. He was one of those pros that was always accessible and friendly and willing to stop and talk to people (and trust me, not all pros are like that). Fascinating writer and interesting person, one of the key writers who got me involved with science fiction as a kid, so getting to know him later on was a real trip.

I don’t think we can under-estimate the impact he’s had on our lives and society. Not necessarily for the things the obit writers are going to talk about — yes, he wrote about things we take for granted today, like geosynchronous communication satellites, but others had those ideas, too. it’s that he inspired a generation of people to actually go out and figure out how to build them and make them happen.

In many ways, Jack Kennedy got us to the moon, but it was Arthur Clarke who got the bodies on the ground who could build the rocket when it was time to build it. There are very few bigger names in the field and in society in general. And now he’s moved on to whatever’s next.

Knowing him, he did it smiling.

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