Safely hidden inside me, is a little boy that has not that much changed over the years. I still go silent when I look up at the stars, I still go excited when my Meade telescope bumps onto a satellite, and my ears still go glowing red when I hear talking about space travel.
As a boy, I could go incommunicado for days, devouring all the stories of that other dreamer, Jules Verne. Frank Herbert brought me to the burning valleys of Dune, Heinlein and Asimov showed me far away galaxies and positronic brains.
But my absolute favorite was Arthur C. Clarke. From Loophole, to Sunstorm, I enjoyed all his writings. The Space Odyssey books on my shelves are the third edition, the first two editions I have read into pieces. Clarke invented the geostationary satellite concept and its implications for modern telecommunications. And he teached a young Belgian boy to look up, and wonder.
Sir Arthur C. Clarke died yesterday at the age of 90. Not a word in the news yesterday. Scarcely a mention in the newspapers today. Apparently the fact that 25 highly skilled, highly paid individuals in Belgium managed to form a government after only 9 months of pointless discussions was more important news. *Sigh*
The little boy in me, and myself will not forget you, Arthur C. I’m afraid I can’t do that
