Difference between revisions of "Arthur C. Clarke"

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He attended the first [[convention]] in the [[UK]] (the [[1937 Leeds Convention]], which has some claim on being the [[Which Was the First SF Convention?|first convention anywhere]]). He was also present at the [[Second British Convention|second in 1938]] and the [[Third British Convention|third in 1939]]. After [[Maurice K. Hanson]] moved himself and his [[fanzine]] to [[London]], Clarke became an associate editor of ''[[Novae Terrae]]'' from #18 in November 1937. He shared a flat with [[William F. Temple]] and later Hanson which was for a time the national headquarters of both the [[British Interplanetary Society]] and the [[Science Fiction Association]]. Known prosaically as '[[The Flat]]', it was fictionalised by Temple as ''88 Gray's Inn Road: A Living-Space Odyssey (2000)''. Post-[[World War II]], Clarke was a member of the [[London Circle]], whose pub meetings are remembered in the ''Tales from the White Hart''. He attended [[Midwestcon]] in the 1950s.
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He attended the first [[convention]] in the [[UK]] (the [[1937 Leeds Convention]], which has some claim on being the [[Which Was the First SF Convention?|first convention anywhere]]). He was also present at the [[Second British Convention|second in 1938]] and the [[Third British Convention|third in 1939]]. He was a member of the [[Science Fiction Association]] (SFA). After [[Maurice K. Hanson]] moved himself and his [[fanzine]] to [[London]], Clarke became an associate editor of ''[[Novae Terrae]]'' from #18 in November 1937. He shared a flat with [[William F. Temple]] and later Hanson which was for a time the national headquarters of both the [[British Interplanetary Society]] and the [[Science Fiction Association]]. Known prosaically as '[[The Flat]]', it was fictionalised by Temple as ''88 Gray's Inn Road: A Living-Space Odyssey (2000)''. Post-[[World War II]], Clarke was a member of the [[London Circle]], whose pub meetings are remembered in the ''Tales from the White Hart''. He attended [[Midwestcon]] in the 1950s.
  
 
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=Pro=

Latest revision as of 13:03, 18 August 2024

Arthur C. Clarke in June 1982. Photo by Rob C. Croes / Anefo.

(December 16, 1917 – March 18, 2008)

Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE, was a British fan and pro. He was active in pre-war UK fandom and was known as ACC and “Ego” “after his most prominent physiognomic feature.” He used the pennames Charles Willis and E. G. O'Brien. He was GoH at NYCon II.

Fan[edit]

He attended the first convention in the UK (the 1937 Leeds Convention, which has some claim on being the first convention anywhere). He was also present at the second in 1938 and the third in 1939. He was a member of the Science Fiction Association (SFA). After Maurice K. Hanson moved himself and his fanzine to London, Clarke became an associate editor of Novae Terrae from #18 in November 1937. He shared a flat with William F. Temple and later Hanson which was for a time the national headquarters of both the British Interplanetary Society and the Science Fiction Association. Known prosaically as 'The Flat', it was fictionalised by Temple as 88 Gray's Inn Road: A Living-Space Odyssey (2000). Post-World War II, Clarke was a member of the London Circle, whose pub meetings are remembered in the Tales from the White Hart. He attended Midwestcon in the 1950s.

Pro[edit]

Professionally, he began publishing with the short story "Loophole" and went on to publish such classic novels as Rendezvous with Rama and Childhood's End. When approached by Stanley Kubrick to work on a film, they created the movie 2001 and Clarke also wrote the novelization and three sequels. His stories "The Star" and "The Nine-Billion Names of God" are classics in the field.

In 1986, Clarke provided a grant to fund the prize money (initially £1,000) for the Arthur C. Clarke Award for the best science fiction novel published in the United Kingdom in the previous year.

He wrote an autobiography, Astounding Days.

Clarke's Three Laws[edit]

The first two axioms were formulated by Clarke in an essay, "Hazards of Prophecy: The Failure of Imagination", published in Profiles of the Future (1962); he added the third in a 1973 revision. Any of them may be cited simply as “Clarke's Law,” though it most often applies to Clarke's Third Law.

  1. When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
  2. The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.
  3. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

Personal Life[edit]

Besides sf, he was heavily involved in promoting space flight and in the post-war was chairman of the British Interplanetary Society for many years. His book, The Exploration of Space, won the 1951 International Fantasy Award for nonfiction. Also a science writer with a degree in physics, Clarke is often credited with popularizing the concept for the communications satellite, and the Clarke Orbit is named for him.

Clarke emigrated from England to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1956, to pursue his interest in scuba diving. He lived in Sri Lanka until his death.

More Reading:[edit]

Awards, Honors and GoHships:

Selected Works[edit]

2001: A Space Odyssey[edit]

2001: A Space Odyssey was a 1968 SF movie produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick. The screenplay, written by Kubrick and Clarke, was inspired by Clarke's short story "The Sentinel."

Clarke concurrently wrote the novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, published soon after the film was released.

The film’s main cast was: Keir Dullea as Dr. David Bowman, Gary Lockwood as Dr. Frank Poole, William Sylvester as Dr. Heywood R. Floyd, and Douglas Rain as the voice of the HAL 9000.

Tales of the White Hart[edit]

(Were you looking for the Harry Purvis apazine?)

A series of stories by Clarke in which fans, pros and scientists gathered in a pub to tell technical tall tales. The stories were collected in Tales from the White Hart. "White Hart" is a play on the White Horse where Clarke attended London Circle meetings.

The Exploration of Space[edit]

The Exploration of Space was an influential 1951 guide to the possibility of interplanetary travel by Clarke.

Awards and Honors

Astounding Days[edit]

Astounding Days, published in the United States in 1990 by Bantam Books, is Clarke's memoirs of his youth in SF, which centers on three prozine editors: Harry Bates, F. Orlin Tremaine, and John W. Campbell. In this 1989 autobiography, Clarke also gives his reaction to the writers and illustrators who first aroused his interest in SF.

Person 1917—2008
This is a biography page. Please extend it by adding more information about the person, such as fanzines and apazines published, awards, clubs, conventions worked on, GoHships, impact on fandom, external links, anecdotes, etc. See Standards for People and The Naming of Names.

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