The Avid Penguin

M. Crichton November 5, 2008

Michael Crichton passed away today.  He was 66.

I really admire him not only as a writer and storyteller but also as a thinker.  My first thoughts when I heard of the news were of Jurassic Park.  That book was the beginning for me.  My 8(?) year-old imagination had never experienced anything like that before.  I think I still have the first copy I purchased/read tucked away at my parent’s house.  Makes me wish that I had used that particular receipt as a bookmark as I often do; note to self.  I’ve been trying to recall how I found that book.  One of my best friends at the time, 4th grade, might have told me to read it.  Part of me thinks that I might have randomly picked it out at the grocery store; the T-rex image on the cover sticks out in my mind and might have been the hook that grabbed me.

Reminds me of all the things I was in to back then: movies (T2 and Tombstone- laser disc of course), Crichton books (Jurassic Park, Congo, Lost World), Legos, DOS games (Doom/Wolfenstein/Incredible Machine) and of course two of my favorite trends of the early ’90s—outdoor trampolines and Home Improvement.  Laser-tag at the mall was probably in there around the same time.  Once a nerd, always a nerd.

Looking back, ’91 produced a lot of movies that stick out in my mind: T2, Hook, Adamms Family, City Slickers, My Girl, Beauty and the Beast, The Rocketeer, TMNT II.  Sometimes I feel like I don’t remember a lot of my childhood, but looking back at movies from that time, I see a lot of names that I remember vividly.  Even going back as far as ’88 and ’89 when I was 4 years old; I may have been young, but I definitely took notice of Jessica Rabbit hahaha

I don’t really know where I’m going with this.  Just wanted to take a moment to reflect on one of my favorite authors.  He had a huge impact on my young, creative mind and now, being older, I have a tremendous appreciation for him as a thinker.  Randomly came across the following quote that really captures my feelings on this aspect.

“I have a lot of trouble with things that don’t seem true to me,” … “I’m very uncomfortable just accepting. There’s something in me that wants to pound the table and say, ‘That’s not true”

RIP MC