Literary Birthday – 23 October – Michael Crichton

Michael Crichton was born on 23 October 1942 and died on 4 November 2008.

Michael Crichton Quotes

1. Do you know what we call opinion in the absence of evidence? We call it prejudice.
2. Books aren’t written – they’re rewritten. Including your own. It is one of the hardest things to accept, especially after the seventh rewrite hasn’t quite done it.
3. I am certain there is too much certainty in the world.
4. In the information society, nobody thinks. We expect to banish paper, but we actually banish thought.
5. Instead of writing thrillers to pay for my train bills, I was actually now going to medical school in order to have something to write about. We would all be standing around a patient with our instructor, and everybody would be making notes about the patient and I would be making notes about the doctors.

Michael Crichton was a bestselling American author, producer, director, screenwriter, and he was also a doctor. He was known for his work in the science fiction (particularly mundane science fiction), medical fiction, and thriller genres. His stories explore themes of genetic modification, hybridization, paleontology and/or zoology. Many of his works used medical or scientific issues that were the subject of his own medical background (he received an MD from Harvard Medical School in 1969 but did not practice medicine). His 25 novels included The Andromeda Strain, The Terminal Man, and The Great Train Robbery. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and many have been adapted into films. In 1994, Crichton became the only writer to have works simultaneously charting at number one in television, film, and book sales with ER, Jurassic Park, and Disclosure.

Image: Jon Chase photo/Harvard News Office, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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by Amanda Patterson

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