The news caused most of us to reach for h2g2 and express our sense of loss. On the receiving end of all this were the Towers Staff... I just cannot seem to call them anything else although The Towers has been replaced by a Bush. Friends to us all, willing to help us when we needed them... here are their personal thoughts written into their journals.

Douglas Adams (3 Days Ago)

Douglas died yesterday in Santa Barbara. We're all shocked and terribly saddened. Our thoughts are with his family. If you'd like to leave a message of condolence, Douglas's personal space on h2g2 would seem to be the most appropriate place¹.
Peta

Thank you Douglas (2 Days Ago)

When Peta told me the news I was numb with shock, and even now part of me still has trouble accepting that you have gone.


I borrowed and never returned the only copy of the HHGttG from my school library. I feel so guilty. Later I bought the radio series. At all the difficult times of my life, Arthur et al have been there to make me laugh. When my beloved Grandfather died, my brother and I played the text based HHGttG computer game to death cos it numbed the pain a little. For this and for your sparkling creativity we among millions of others will be eternally grateful.


Thank you for all you wrote. To say the world is a poorer place is a cliche but has also never been so true. Most of all thank you for h2g2, which truly has shaped and changed my life in ways I cannot begin to describe.


Your family are in my thoughts.


with fondest memories
Abi

Well... (2 Days Ago)

When I heard about Douglas's death I couldn't believe it. My thoughts went out to his family and friends and their devastating loss. I know a little of how they might be feeling - my mother died 17 months ago. If you could call a private wish that Douglas has arrived safely to whatever happens next, then you could say my prayers go out to him, too.


I couldn't say that I knew the big man, as by the time I'd arrived at h2g2 he'd flown the bosom of the UK to live in Santa Barbara, to work on the script of the film. However, we did see him in the office from time to time, almost stooping to get through the door. So tall.


On site you could say I'm a wallflower looking onto the h2g2 Community. I've always been rather like that. And this morning I've been reading the threads of condolence, coming in faster than I can read them. I'm so proud to be a part of such a supportive, mutally respectful and sensitive group of people. Best of all I like the fact that many postings have put smiles on faces at this sad time, that memories have been shared. I send out big hugs to you all.
Anna

Douglas Adams (Yesterday)

Like so many people around the world, I am very saddened indeed by the sudden death of Douglas Adams. My heartfelt sympathies go out to his family and to his close friends. By all accounts he really was a magnificent man, a genuine character. I met him a few times and on the last occasion we had a great little chat about music and I remember thinking then, 'What a lovely bloke!'. I know full well he'll be sorely missed, but his magnificent spirit lives on, especially at h2g2.


I'm so proud to be associated with the h2g2 project, and the way in which the h2g2 Community has conducted itself and expressed its collective heart these past few days is humbling and moving beyond words. h2g2 is alive and growing; a totally life-affirming, nurturing presence in an increasingly moronic world. I can't think of a more fitting legacy - what an amazing thing to leave us!


God bless you Douglas.
Sam

Thank you Douglas (Yesterday)

Life, the Universe and Everything. I can't get my head round Douglas being dead.


Douglas, Robbie Stamp and I founded h2g2 so I got to know Douglas pretty well. It would be easy on days like this to pretend that we were much more than work colleagues. For Robbie that was true, but that for me it wasn't the case.


What is true is how much I learned from him. My mind stops concentrating of that kind of reminiscence, about a film or a play or a book after a minute or so and I need text to help it concentrate.


But today I've forced myself to leave the office and walk and think.


This is not the place, for me, to pen these thoughts. I'm too dyslexic to write in public. Suffice to say they'll be locked in a special part of my mind where I'll know where to find them.


But what I can say, very publicly is: Thank you Douglas for memories and advice that will last forever.
Richard

DNA

I've just returned from holidays in the States and am shocked and deeply saddend by the news of Douglas's death. It is a shock to us here, you out there and the reading world as a whole. My heartfelt sympathies go out to his family, his friends and all those who were touched by his writing and humour.


Douglas does not only leave behind an incredible literay legacy, but he also leaves this site as testimony to the power of the spirit of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It is a rare thing to find a global community pulling together in a moment of crisis as h2g2 has done. Reading the threads you have left is a heartwarming and touching tribute to the creator of the Guide.
Ashley

Late, as in the late Douglas Adams

I was fishing when I heard the news that Douglas had passed away. The weather was beautiful, the lake calm and serene, and the news felt a little distant, a bit out of kilter with the twittering birds and the smell of freshly cut grass. It didn't really sink in.


It still hasn't really sunk in, but coming back to h2g2 and seeing all the wonderful tributes makes you appreciate what an influence Douglas had on so many lives. I think the response on h2g2 says it all, so I won't even try to add to the thousands of postings we've already received. I'd only be repeating what others have said more eloquently.


However, I did end up catching a 14lb 12oz carp, the biggest fish I've ever caught. I like to think that Fate set this up, just so the Editor of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy could genuinely say 'so long, and thanks for all the fish'. If so, it just goes to prove that Fate could learn a thing or two from the man himself about humour.


Au revoir, boss. It was fun, and we'll all miss you.
Mark

Help Build Douglas' Legacy

This has already been suggested by many people in many places, but it's never a bad thing to reiterate things from the h2g2 team's point of view. One thing that is clear is how universally loved Douglas was, and that one of the most fitting ways to pay tribute to him would be to help him achieve his goal - that of creating a truly excellent guide to life, the universe and everything, the *real* Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.


Help us to help you build a genuine and wonderful legacy to Douglas, one that will last for a long, long time. If we can do things better, let us know. If we're doing some things right, let us know. Whatever, *let us know* - we're trying to build Douglas' vision here at h2g2, but we absolutely need your help to do it. So when the dust has settled, please join us in our quest to create the real Guide - that'd be a really worthy testimony to the late, great Douglas Adams.
Mark

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