The famous science fiction author, Arthur C. Clarke, passed away on March 19th in Sri Lanka, the country he had adopted as his homeland more than half a century ago.
His seminal short story, The Sentinel, spawned the film 2001: A Space Odyssey and forever linked his name to that of enigmatic director Stanley Kubrick. His works as a science fiction author and futurist have had enormous impact on the genre and the culture at large as well.
Clarke had been suffering from post-polio syndrome for some twenty years, having contracted the disease back in 1959, and spent much of his time in a wheelchair.
Even at his advanced age and in spite of his illness, the prolific author managed to finish the manuscript to The Last Theorem, a science fiction novel he co-wrote with Frederik Pohl, just days before his death.
His funeral in Colombo was said to have been attented by mourners numbering in the thousands. Clarke was 90 years old.
