Remembering Michael Crichton

During all the excitement of our new president yesterday, word came down that author Michael Crichton passed away at the young age of 66. In the company of Stephen King and Orson Scott Card, Crichton is one of my favorite authors of all time. As Michelle on BestWeekEver mentioned, Jurassic Park was her first grown-up book. I think it was mine too. I remember being glued to it in the back room of my parents' store. I wanted to read the whole thing before the movie premiered that night. I finished the book (probably when I should have been working instead) and got ready for the movie, only to find it completely sold out (this is before the days of Fandango, or even MovieFone, kids). After Jurassic Park, I became obsessed and read the The Andromeda Strain, Sphere, Congo(got right into that movie, didn't think it would suck so much). Unfortunately, Crichton also wrote Jurassic Park 2 (The Lost World) -- one of two books I chucked across the room after finishing (Contactwas the other). It was so terrible, that it was the end of Crichton's books for me. ER, which he created, was a redemption of sorts. Therefore, I will always appreciate him for introducing me (and the world) to George Clooney and for explaining chaos theory in a way a high school kid could understand. Thanks, Michael.