Douglas Adams

We were deeply shocked to learn that Douglas Adams, creator of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and friend to us all, died on Friday 11 May, 2001. Our deepest sympathy goes out to his wife Jane, and his daughter Polly.

If you would like to leave a message of condolence, then please click on the 'Discuss this Entry' button below.

The order of service for Douglas' funeral, which took place at 3pm California time, Wednesday 16 May was:

The Schubler Chorals - Johann Sebastian Bach
Sue Adams, Jane Garnier, James Thrift
Mary Allen

The Marriage of Figaro - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Simon Jones
Terry Jones

'I Wannabe (A Rockstar)' - Margo Buchanan¹
Michael Nesmith
Chris Ogle

'Imagine' - John Lennon

'Hey Jude' - The Beatles

'Drive My Car' - The Beatles

'Paperback Writer' - The Beatles

	A Tribute from Robbie Stamp

Robbie, Chairman and Co-founder of h2g2 with Douglas and Richard Creasey, has written the following personal tribute to Douglas.

I feel very privileged to have been both a business partner and friend to Douglas. Over the years that we worked on The Digital Village, which latterly became h2g2 Ltd, we became genuinely close. Whether he was here or in the USA we would talk three or four times a week, and for long periods we talked daily.

Many many words will be written about his life and his works of genius, so it is his friendship that I would most like to celebrate. Douglas was a loyal and caring man and much of our talk was about friends and families and our children. He adored his daughter Polly and recently was so proud of her learning to ride. He basked in the confidence that it gave her. The last conversation I had with him was the evening before he had his heart attack. My own father had died only a few hours earlier and Douglas listened with such compassion to the story I wanted to tell him about his final hours. We then gently moved on to one of our perennial topics of conversation, 'the movie', and then on to new ideas for the future. And there in that one call was all that I valued about my friendship with Douglas: care for the things that really matter, love, friendship, family and loyalty, alongside his passionate enjoyment of ideas and his hunger for thinking about the world.

We had talked recently about the new home that h2g2.com has found at the BBC and how glad we were that it has a parent now who can help it to become what we dreamed it might. I know that Douglas would be happy to think that h2g2 will long be a place where people congregate to share stories, and piece by piece build the Earth Edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

	Other Tributes and Obituaries

Here's a selection of other tributes and obituaries.

• BBC News - Main story
• BBC News - So long, and thanks for all the books
• BBC News - Adams' humour lives on
• BBC News - Homage to Douglas (audio)
• Richard Dawkins in The Guardian
• Richard Dawkins: Eulogy for Douglas Adams
• Michael Bywater in The Independent
• Tributes on douglasadams.com

	A Selection of Douglas' h2g2 Guide Entries

Here's a selection of h2g2 Guide Entries written by Douglas. They're just the tip of the iceberg; on top of the books, TV series, radio series, computer games and towels, a major part of Douglas' legacy is and always will be the online Guide he created - this site. His words in the first two entries here are more relevant than ever, and show what a genuine visionary he was. We'll really miss him.

• Douglas Adams' Vision for h2g2
• A Welcome and Thank-you Message from Douglas Adams
• Predicting the Future
• Beyond the Brochure or Build it and We Will Come
• Future Perfect

	A Selection of Douglas' Work for the BBC

Douglas enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship with the BBC, from early Doctor Who episodes, through the radio and TV series of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and more recently his work on Radio 4. Here's a selection from elsewhere on BBC Online.

• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Future
• The Internet, the last battleground of the 20th Century
• Douglas' first Doctor Who episode, The Pirate Planet
• And his (and the show's) greatest: City of Death
• Douglas discussing the animal that had most inspired him in Natural Selections

	Douglas' Favourite Charities

Some people have been asking which charities were Douglas' favourites, so here are two that Douglas supported wholeheartedly:

• Dian Fossey Gorilla Foundation
• Save the Rhino

---

¹ Douglas shot a video of Polly singing 'I Wannabe (A Rockstar)', which you can find at the Apple site.

People have been talking about this Guide Entry. Here are the most recent Conversations:

Happy 51:st birthday, Douglas. (Last Posting: Mar 11, 2013)
Today would have been Douglas Adam's 60th Birthday (Last Posting: Sep 5, 2012)
The Film (Last Posting: Dec 14, 2011)
er..hello (Last Posting: Jul 22, 2011)
Ten years today (Last Posting: Jun 20, 2011)
A tribute to the fans and an edited repeat (Last Posting: Jan 13, 2011)
disrespect (Last Posting: Aug 26, 2008)
RIP: (Last Posting: Aug 8, 2008)
my favourite author (Last Posting: Jun 23, 2008)
11 May, 2008 (Last Posting: May 12, 2008)

Click here to see more Conversations

	Journal Entries		Most Recent Conversations
	This is where any Journal Entries would appear, if this Researcher had made any. Unfortunately they haven't managed to write anything, which is a shame because their Journal is where they could tell everyone what they've been up to. Is your Journal empty too? If so, this is how it'll appear to other Researchers who visit your Personal Space.		From h2g2 Scrambled Eggs (Posted: Jul 2, 1999) (Last reply: Mar 14, 2006) From h2g2 My take on this article (Posted: Apr 14, 2000) (Last reply: Jun 25, 2005) From h2g2 Mark Knopfler's playing (Posted: Jun 6, 2000) (Last reply: Oct 11, 2003) From h2g2 Radios in tunnels (Posted: Sep 10, 1999) (Last reply: Apr 4, 2003) From h2g2 Better late... (Posted: Apr 12, 2000) (Last reply: Sep 1, 2002) From h2g2 Eladio's, Santa Barbara (Posted: May 7, 2000) (Last reply: May 7, 2000) From h2g2 Strange thinking (Posted: Jul 2, 1999) (Last reply: Jan 29, 2000) Click here to see more Conversations

	Most Recent Guide Entries		Most Recent Edited Entries
	These are all the Guide Entries this Researcher has created. If you'd like to read them, click on the link, and if you want to talk about them, use the 'Discuss this Entry' button when you get there. From h2g2: A691661  Overcoming Writer's Block (Feb 6, 2002) From h2g2: A637175  SETI@Home (Sep 26, 2001) From h2g2: A504884  A Tribute to Peter Jones (Jan 7, 2001) From h2g2: A297920  Obituary - Peter Jones (Apr 13, 2000) From h2g2: A281701  Beyond the Brochure or Build it and We Will Come (Mar 17, 2000) From h2g2: A251182  International Driving Laws (Jan 21, 2000) From h2g2: A235261  Festive Hangover Cures (Dec 22, 1999) From h2g2: A229565  Pictures from the Paul McCartney Gig (Dec 15, 1999) From h2g2: A229448  Robbie McIntosh - Unsung (Dec 15, 1999) From h2g2: A216433  Predicting the Future (Nov 26, 1999) Click here to see more Guide Entries		These are all the Edited Entries to which this Researcher has contributed. They obviously read the Writing Guidelines and submitted their Guide Entries to Peer Review: why don't you too? From h2g2: A701001  Overcoming Writer's Block (Mar 26, 2002) From h2g2: A649893  The SETI@Home Project (Dec 14, 2001) From h2g2: A550955  My Vision for H2G2, by Douglas Adams (Apr 4, 2000) From h2g2: A157349  A Welcome and Thank You Message from Douglas Adams (Sep 8, 1999) From h2g2: A105788  Scrambled Eggs (Jul 2, 1999) From h2g2: A61345  Tea (May 12, 1999) From h2g2: A5815  The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Apr 28, 1999) Click here to see more Edited Entries

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