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Posted on 12/28/2004 11:35:13 AM PST by anymouse
From Sir Arthur regarding the recent tsunamis in South and Southeast Asia:
Thank you for your concern about my safety in the wake of Sunday’s devastating tidal wave.
I am enormously relieved that my family and household have escaped the ravages of the sea that suddenly invaded most parts of coastal Sri Lanka, leaving a trail of destruction.
But many others were not so fortunate. For hundreds of thousands of Sri Lankans and an unknown number of foreign tourists, the day after Christmas turned out to be a living nightmare reminiscent of The Day After Tomorrow.
Among those affected are my staff based at our diving station in Hikkaduwa and holiday bungalow in Kahawa – both beachfront properties located in areas worst hit. We still don’t know the full extent of damage as both roads and phones have been damaged. Early reports indicate that we have lost most of our diving equipment and boats. Not all our staff members are accounted for – yet.
This is indeed a disaster of unprecedented magnitude for Sri Lanka which lacks the resources and capacity to cope with the aftermath. We are all trying to contribute to the relief efforts. We shall keep you informed as we learn more about what happened.
Curiously enough, in my first book on Sri Lanka, I had written about another tidal wave reaching the Galle harbour (see Chapter 8 in The Reefs of Taprobane, 1957). That happened in August 1883, following the eruption of Krakatoa in roughly the same part of the Indian Ocean.
Arthur Clarke 27 December 2004
Clarke's still alive???? He must be 112 by now.
Oh, thank heavens.
Is that the Day After Tomorrow picture? :)
The first thing that I thought of also...
Sir Arthur C. Clarke, December 31, 2002, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
bttt
Wasn't there some rumor a few years back about him liking little boys, and that his move to Sri Lanka was to facilitate access to them without much government intervention?
Or am I just way to loaded still on Christmas sugar....
I know nothing of "Sir" Clarke's "proclivities", but... I can't help but wonder how many of the "European Tourists" who ended up on the water were there on sex tours...
(Yeah, I know. OH, the suffering and the humanity and I'm a hard-hearted mean-spirited evil right-wing extremist etc. etc... now let's see, where DID I put that violin, anyway...)
Oops, sorry, excuse me - make that UNDER the water.
There... I feel better now...
Helen Thomas was on her first honeymoon there at the time.. in 1883, not 1957 .. ;-)
I think you are confusing Phuket with Pattaya. If you are going to insult people, please make sure you insult the right people...
FYI, Pattaya was not touched by the tidal wave.
Careful. There are Clarke fans here that will not like any questions regarding their hero.
He's gay and has lived there for years and rarely leaves. He is....(wait for it)....afraid of flying.
Well, somebody ELSE implied Clarke was there for the small boys... *I'M* just trying to be as insensitive and unfeeling and uncaring as possible. (Stop interrupting me!!)
I never said it was. In fact I never mentioned Pattaya or Phuket.
The previous poster somehow thought that Sir Arthur C. Clarke was in Thailand. I'm not aware that there are any sex tours in Sri Lanka. But that doesn't stop some from slurring a well known elderly writer.
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) - Sri Lanka's best known resident, science fiction writer and visionary Arthur C. Clarke, said Thursday he and his family were safe, but regretted the lack of a warning system in his adopted home of Sri Lanka.
Sunday's massive earthquake and tidal waves killed at least 22,799 people in the South Asian nation and injured another 8,815, according to official tolls. As of late Thursday, some 4,059 remained missing and nearly 1 million people were homeless.
"I am enormously relieved that my family and household have escaped the ravages of the sea that suddenly invaded most parts of coastal Sri Lanka, leaving a trail of destruction," Clarke said.
Originally from Somerset, England, Clarke came to Sri Lanka, a small island country of 19 million people off India's southern tip, for underwater diving in 1954. Two years later he made the tropical island his home.
"There is much to be done in both short and long terms for Sri Lanka to raise its head from this blow from the seas," said Clarke in an e-mail to acquaintances and The Associated press.
"Among other things, the country needs to improve its technical and communications facilities so that effective early warnings can help minimize losses in future disasters."
Clarke said that in his first book on Sri Lanka he wrote about "about another tidal wave reaching the Galle harbor." Galle, in southern Sri Lanka, is the country's second largest town. It was badly hit by Sunday's disaster.
Clarke predicted space travel before rockets were even tested and foretold computers wreaking havoc with modern life when modems and PCs were not household words. His was the only prominent voice of dissent that Y2K would not destabilize the world of computers at the end of the millennium.
His "2001: A. Space Odyssey," loved by dreamers and scientists since it appeared as a novel and a movie in 1968, was just one of scores of fiction and nonfiction works produced in a career that began in 1959. In 1997, he produced another best seller with the sequel to "2001" - "3001: The Final Odyssey."
Clarke said Sunday's tidal waves damaged a diving school he runs and his two beach bungalows, but he reported no personal human loss.
"Many others were not so fortunate," he said. "After Christmas turned out to be a living nightmare."
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