Jurassic Park writer passes away
Michael Crichton, the writer of the best-selling novel Jurassic Park and the long-running television medical drama ER, has passed away at the age of 66.
World famous novelist Michael Crichton has passed away at the age of 66, he died from cancer. Crichton is probably best known for his Jurassic Park and its sequel, The Lost World. Both films were transformed into films by Steven Spielberg and there was also a third film in the Jurassic Park franchise. It’s long been rumoured that Spielberg was interested in producing a fourth Jurassic Park film. Other popular books written by Crichton include Timeline, The Andromeda Strain and Congo.
Away from novels Crichton created the long running medical drama series ER. The series was originally slated to be a film by Spielberg but the director decided instead to produce Jurassic Park and ER instead become a television series. Crichton acted as an executive producer and advisor to the series and wrote three of the show’s episodes. At the show’s height it was watched by millions in America and was also popular in the UK and launched the careers of George Clooney and Alex Kingston. The drama is currently in its last season as NBC decided to pull the plug on the drama because of declining ratings over the past few years.
Crichton was also known for his controversial views on global warming which attracted wide-spread criticism for those that affirmed global warming did exist. Al Gore, the democratic presidential candidate in 2004, even made reference to Crichton’s stance on global warming during a speech in which Al Gore said “The planet has a fever. If your baby has a fever, you go to the doctor […] if your doctor tells you you need to intervene here, you don’t say ‘Well, I read a science fiction novel that tells me it’s not a problem.”
The family of Michael Crichton released a statement last night. “Through his books, Michael Crichton served as an inspiration to students of all ages, challenged scientists in many fields, and illuminated the mysteries of the world in a way we could all understand.”