Star One Smart Blog's

I've a few of these paperbacks still, memories of some great reads back in my youth, when Science Fiction was my favorite genre.

Arthur C. Clarke, Dr. Asimov, two of the best hard-SF writers of the 'Golden Era' of Science Fiction, shaped much of my spare reading time. These two gentlemen had great mutual respect for each other. From the link above...

It is a mark of the friendship and respect accorded Asimov by Arthur C. Clarke that the so-called "Asimov-Clarke Treaty of Park Avenue", put together as they shared a cab ride along Park Avenue in New York, stated that Asimov was required to insist that Clarke was the best science fiction writer in the world (reserving second best for himself), while Clarke was required to insist that Asimov was the best science writer in the world (reserving second best for himself). Thus the dedication in Clarke's book Report on Planet Three (1972) reads: "In accordance with the terms of the Clarke-Asimov treaty, the second-best science writer dedicates this book to the second-best science-fiction writer."

Some of my most memorable favorites include "A Fall of Moondust", "Rendezvous with Rama", and of course "Childhood's End" and the monumental "2001: A Space Odyssey".

Rest well, Sir Clarke; you will always be The Monolith in Science Fiction circles.

---

h/t Dan Collins

---

UPDATE 3/22/08
Sir Arthur Clarke was laid to rest today in Sri Lanka...

Music from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey was played at the funeral and members of the family which had adopted him cried as his coffin was lowered.

"Here lies Arthur C Clarke. He never grew up and did not stop growing," his gravestone in Colombo is to read, in accordance with the author's wishes.
...
Before the funeral, yellow roses were thrown on to Sir Arthur's body as a final gesture of respect as it lay on a white bed beneath curved elephant tusks.

---