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Douglas Adams

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

May 11, 2001 - Douglas Adams, author of the cult science fiction comedy "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" BBC radio show which spawned a series of novels, a computer game, and a TV series, along with a worldwide legion of fans, died May 11, 2001.

The British-born Adams died of an apparent heart attack in Santa Barbara, California, after collapsing while working out at a gym. Adams, who was 49, had moved to California two years ago to work with Disney on a planned film of his tale. He was not thought to have been in poor health.

The "Hitchhiker's Guide," which began as a BBC radio series in 1978, is a satirical adventure about two interplanetary travelers, the hapless Arther Dent and his alien friend Ford Prefect, who hitchhike away from Earth minutes before it is demolished to make way for an interplanetary highway.

The radio play was turned into a book, which sold 14 million copies worldwide, and later into a TV series. Sequels to the novel were "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe," "Life, the Universe and Everything," "So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish," and "Mostly Harmless." The books blended satire, memorably-named characters such as Zaphod Beeblebrox and Marvin the Paranoid Android, and witty philosophy, at one point supplying the answer to "the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything." (The answer was 42).

Adams later recalled how he first thought of the book during a teen-age trip around Europe. "I was hitchhiking around Europe in 1971, when I was 18, with this copy of 'A Hitchhiker's Guide to Europe,"' he said. "At one point I found myself lying in the middle of a field, a little bit drunk, when it occurred to me that somebody should write a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It didn't occur to me that it might actually be me years later."

Geoffrey Perkins, the BBC's Head of Comedy, who produced the original radio series, said "I'm absolutely devastated. I've known Douglas for 25 years. He was absolutely one of the most creative geniuses to ever work in radio comedy. He probably wrote one of the greatest radio comedy series ever, certainly the most imaginative."

Adams was born in Cambridge, England, in 1952 and received an MA in Literature from St. John's College, Cambridge. He began his career as a writer and script editor at the BBC.

He followed the "Hitchhiker's Guide" with several books about "holistic detective" Dirk Gently; "Last Chance to See," a book about endangered species; and, with John Lloyd, the hilarious alternative dictionary "The Meaning of Liff." He also founded a multimedia company, Digital Village, which produced the "Starship Titanic" computer game and an online travel guide inspired by the "Hitchhiker's Guide."

Adams is survived by his widow, the former Jane Belson, a lawyer, and their 6-year-old daughter, Polly. Adams is also survived by his mother, Jan Thrift of England.