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Author Michael Crichton dies at 66
Writer penned 'Jurassic Park,' 'Timeline'
By SAM THIELMAN

John Michael Crichton, director, screenwriter, and best-selling author of sci-fi thrillers that inspired more than a dozen movies and TV series including "Jurassic Park," "Sphere" and "The Andromeda Strain," died of cancer Tuesday in Los Angeles. He was 66.
"While the world knew him as a great storyteller that challenged our preconceived notions about the world around us -- and entertained us all while doing so -- his wife Sherri, daughter Taylor, family and friends knew Michael Crichton as a devoted husband, loving father and generous friend who inspired each of us to strive to see the wonders of our world through new eyes," his family said in a statement.

Crichton's stories often chronicled disaster and systematic breakdown, frequently using a big, action-packed narrative like the rampaging dinosaurs of "Jurassic Park" to explain complicated concepts like chaos math. In person and in print, Crichton advocated for the literary merits of science fiction writers, leaping to the defense of writer Kurt Vonnegut in the pages of the New Republic.

"He was the greatest at blending science with big theatrical concepts, which is what gave credibility to dinosaurs again walking the earth," said "Park" helmer Steven Spielberg, "In the early days, Michael had just sold 'The Andromeda Strain' to Robert Wise at Universal and I had recently signed on as a contract TV director there. Michael was a gentle soul who reserved his flamboyant side for his novels."

Movies based on Crichton's stories and screenplays were frequently financially successful, as well: "Jurassic Park" remains the 13th-highest grossing film in history, while "Twister" (which Crichton co-wrote) and "The Lost World" sit at #53 ($241,688,385) and #60 ($229,074,524) respectively. The writer also worked in television, creating the series "ER" for Warner Brothers and NBC in 1994, along with various TV movies including this year's remake of "The Andromeda Strain."

Early in his career, Crichton directed his own screenplays, including the 1979 Sean Connery starrer "The Great Train Robbery," which he wrote, directed, and adapted from his own novel; and 1973's "Westworld."

Born in Chicago on Oct. 23, 1942, the Crichton was raised in Roslyn, Long Island with his brother and two sisters and graduated summa cum laude from Harvard in 1964. In a decision that would inform much of his writing, he chose to attend Harvard Medical School and obtained his MD in 1969. Throughout his education, he wrote under various pseudonyms, including Jeffery Hudson, the name that appears on Crichton's Edgar-winning medical thriller "A Case of Need." The writer was uncommonly tall - 6'9". He married five times and divorced four.

In his later years, Crichton broke with convention on the subject of global warming, addressing what he saw as hysteria around the issue in his his 2004 novel "State of Fear." Perhaps because of similar views on the topic, Crichton was also one of the few novelists to get along well with President George W. Bush.

Published by HarperCollins since his 2002 thriller "Prey," Crichton was working on another novel during the illness before his death. HarperCollins' Jonathan Burnham said that it was unknown whether the book could be published posthumously, since the writer never discussed his work before it was completed. "He was truly a unique talent," said Burnham. "A visionary thinker, a writer whose range of intellectual passion and curiosity was vast, and a great and generous entertainer. It's rare to find writers on his commercial scale who continued to confront so many challenges in their work and continually broke new ground. He was also a joy to work with. We will miss him very much."

r.i.p.

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Stvarno, rano mu je bilo.. RIP.