h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It is a shame that not more people know of him and of his genius... Tell all of your friends and family about Douglas, get them his books, rent them the movie. If they've all read it, seen it, and heard it all hundreds of times, tell complete strangers! Let Douglas' legacy live on, and his visions will become reality. Even if only one person laughs at his writings or finds them poignant... that one person will share it with others. The worst thing to happen is for Mr. Adams to be forgotten... for then he truly will be dead. I salute you, Douglas Adams, you have made Earth just slightly more sane.

The celebration of a life gone well. See you on the other side! Till then, this fish is for you.
Satyagraha

One of the saving graces is this site. So hard to want to express how sad and mournful one feels to people who say "WHO?" "WHAT?" and "He was JUST an author and you didn't know him"..... Yes, I didn't know him, but it sort of felt like he knew me (or that there were people like me).

Thank all of you for being part of a warm community.

I'm going to the shop in the morning to get my black towel.

Greetings All

Our universe is a little sadder today, but still a much more enjoyable place than it would've been if DNA had never had the vision of The Guide and shared his vision with us. Many have left their mark on the world, but very few as interesting as the one left by Douglas Adams. I hope that his legacy, H2G2, continues to grow in the future that is to come, and that it will eventually get out into space, connecting beings from many species and worlds, where it belongs.

42! Douglas Adams, I salute you, wherever you may be hitchhiking at the moment. 42!

Phoenix

Dear Mr. Adams.

I have a story to tell you. When I first moved out to California, intent on becoming an actress, I needed a comedy monologe to audition for an agent. I decided that the best comedy I had ever read was yours. So, at the tender age of 17, I read the entire chapter in Restaraunt that is devoted to the population of the Universe, and why it can't exist. It had the wizend, bitter casting agent rolling around in hoots of laughter.

Needless to say, I got the job.

So to you, sir, I say a fond thank you for all the laughter you've given my life, and all the joy you've brought to my friends. In fact, because of my love for your works, I met some of the nicest and most bizzarre people I probably ever will meet.

Thank you very much, Mr. Adams. You will be sorely missed.

So much to say, but what words to use... Not many exist that can be used.... Smile thou a tear be in your eye and remember heroes get remembered but legends live forever.


~ Black towels, Everyone ~


Tryggvi Níelsson, Álftamýri, Reykjavík, Gullbringu sýslu, Iceland, Europe, Earth, Sol, The Milky Way, The Universe and beyond...

So long and thanks for all the funny.
And thus passes our Last Chance To See.

I met Doug at a reading at Powell's Book Store here in Portland, OR. I was surprised, but maybe I shouldn't have been, at how willing he was to just sit around and chat with the True Faithful, after an hour long reading, and just as long signing books. He was still there, just chatting with folks when my friends and I left, just a few people wanting to bend the ear of their favorite author.

Thanks Doug. When it comes to Life, The Universe and Everything, you gave us the answer. Maybe now, you can find the question. Get back to us, OK?

We'll really miss you Douglas, thanks for all the everything.

Having just learned of our loss, I am greatly saddened: Mr. Adams,
and family, I hope dearly that you and yours are at peace. For what
it's worth--of my insignificance in this place--please know that my
character/spirit was deeply influenced by Mr. Adams' writings; I would
not be the open-minded and far-reaching person that I am today had it
not been for you. You helped me grow up as a teenager (as scary as
that may sound). . . we will miss you--perhaps we'll all meet you
some day.

Rest in peace, Mr. Adams. Best wishes and love to the Adams' family.

Chris Darby, Kansas City, Missouri, USA ( CHRIS.at.KCMO.NET )

'Thus shall ye look on all this fleeting world:
A star at dawn,
A bubble in the stream,
A flash of lightning in a summer cloud,
A flickering lamp,
A phantom,
And a dream'

And what a dream you left us, Douglas. Thank you.

Tal

--"And thus passes our Last Chance To See."

Like I haven't cried enough, today; like I will ever cry enough for a man I never met but who changed me like light changes a crystal, only permanantly.

At least the BT is coming in handy (already: truelly the most mind-bogglingly useful thing--)

Perhaps throught your death more will come realize your true brilliance, Mr. Adams. I was lucky enough to have realized it during your life, and your wisdom always shone through.

To prove just how naive I am, I never realized that DNA was actually on the site. There were many times we were on at the same time, but I never looked at his personal space because I just didn't care enough, I was busy, or I was just apathetic. Had I have known, I would have read every guide entry, every word you ever wrote on the page.

But now I have a chance to remedy my faults: I have learned something; you can't judge a user by his name.

I love you and miss you, and feel as if I've known you for years. I salute you, and btw, thanks for all the laughs.

Shanana

now that it's my turn, i don't know what to say.
i was on my never-ending quest for more dna when a bookstore clerk delivered me the news this afternoon. i've spent the rest of the day thinking about exactly what this event means for me.

i've read hundreds of books by hundreds more authors. mr. adams has always been, and will always remain my favorite of them all. i guess i've always assumed there would be more, and now there can't be.

my deepest sympathies to his family and friends, my sympathies also to our h2g2 family and staff. and to all the new researchers, i'm very sorry we've had to meet under these circumstances.

peace to you and yours
good night and god bless

lanie beckering
st. charles, missouri, usa

God bless you Douglas. So long and thanks for all the laughs. You will be missed, but never forgotten!

I am deeply saddened by the news I have just heard. The man who awakened
the minds and heart of so many people (including mine) to a new way of looking
at the world has passed on.

But he lives on in our thoughts and memories. His significance to this little planet
is celebrated by the impact he has made on so many of our lives.

Julian
Perth, Western Australia

What I am understanding has happened I don't believe. I don't.

So long, and thanks for.....everything.

Niwt

There was a terribly ghastly silence.

There was a terribly ghastly silence.

There was a terribly ghastly silence.

Douglas Adams is dead, and the world is a poorer place.

It is one thing to die at the age of 50. "How young," people say. "But 50 is a solid age, if very disappointing."

But to die at 49? "Shocking," they say, "that a genius of his level should die so young. We can scarcely believe it's true."

It's just one year, and an absurd difference to note. But Douglas Adams noticed such absurdities all his life, and cast them into stark relief for all of us. In his very first work he destroyed the Earth, and in the rest he slowly built it back for us, brick by hovering brick.

Arthur Dent has often been tritely called an Everyman. He was no such thing. He was the Only Man, instantly cut off from humanity by the most destructive means possible, and forced to rediscover his own in the most absurd of surroundings.

I can hardly find the words to say more. Douglas Adams has been dead for scarcely 24 hours, and his obituary has already been written thousands of times. Each fan, in his own way, has remembered him.

Little else has been on my mind since I arrived at work Saturday. I work at a newspaper, and I have seen the word OBIT scroll across the wire box at least once or twice a day, attached to the name of some well-known individual. But never have my shock and horror matched the level they reached when I saw the horrible slugline "Obit-DouglasAdams" flash across the screen.

Douglas Adams taught us that the universe works in unexpected ways. Surely that was the case today. For months, the newshole in my paper has been shrinking. On Tuesday the paper becomes permanently smaller. But today, the amount of space for news we had was mind-bogglingly huge, such as we have not seen in the last year. Normally it would have been tough to find space to run a complete obituary for anyone less than a president or king.

But today, there was space to print every word I could dig up on Douglas Adams. This alone brought me consolation on this dark day.

>WHO AM I?
You are Arthur Dent.

As the electric monk watches over his pink landscape he finally believes somthing that's true - Douglas is Dead :_(

RIP DNA

As the electric monk watches over his pink landscape he finally believes somthing that's true - Douglas is Dead :,(

RIP DNA

The only thing that seems to comfort me is that in the grand scheme of the universe, his death was necessary to bring about some magnificent cosmic event in the future.

I keep thinking about how totally wrong it feels for him to have died. He was a brilliant man, with a more than healthy mind. For him to die so (reletively) young, is a tragedy. I wish I could go back in time and save him. it's only a few days. *sigh*
oh well
Nothing to do now but sit back, relax... and wait for the universe to end.