Tributes to Taunton sci-fi hero Arthur C. Clarke (From This is The West Country)

Tributes to Taunton sci-fi hero Arthur C. Clarke

8:08am Wednesday 19th March 2008

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SCI-FI author Sir Arthur C. Clarke, who was born in Minehead and educated at Huish's Grammar School, Taunton, has died at the age of 90.

It is thought Sir Arther died after suffering from breathing problems.

Sir Arthur was born in Minehead and grew up in Bishops Lydeard. The learning resource centre at Richard Huish College, Taunton, is named after him.

He was the author of more than 100 books, including 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Originally from Somerset, Sir Arthur went to Sri Lanka to live in 1954, then two years later made the tropical island his home.

He published his view of the future, 2001: A Space Odyssey, in 1968 and was co-author of the highly successful screen version with Stanley Kubrick.

Sir Arthur was knighted in 2000 in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo - more than two years after he was conferred with the honour.

From 1995, the author was largely confined to a wheelchair, suffering from post-polio syndrome.

British astronomer Sir Patrick Moore has paid tribute to Mr Clarke.

He said: "He was a great visionary, a brilliant science fiction writer and a great forecaster.

"He foresaw communications satellites, a nationwide network of computers, interplanetary travel, he said there would be a man on the moon by 1970 - while I said 1980 - and he was right."

The pair had been friends since meeting at the British Interplanetary Society in its early years in the 1930s.

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