Worth Reading

Writer Michael Crichton died yesterday of cancer at age 66. He’s the author of The Andromeda Strain (1969), Jurassic Park (1990), and other novels, and the creator of the long-running medical drama series, ER.  He graduated summa cum laude from Harvard University, studied anthropology at Cambridge University, and graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1969. About his writing, he identified it not as science fiction or fantasy but as “near-reality.”

HIs first published medical thriller, A Case of Need, was written under the pseudonym Jeffery Hudson while he was in med school; it won an Edgar in 1968.

More:

• An appreciation of Crichton in the CSM;
• Crichton’s writing in the NYT;
• obituary at the BBC;
• AP obituary;
• the WSJ Health Blog, with a photo of Crichton at age 26;
• the National Post’s choices for Top 10 Michael Crichton Films of All Time.