Douglas Adams

1952–2001 · English humorist, novelist and creator of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Douglas Noël Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) turned a 1978 BBC radio serial into The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, then into novels, a television series, a computer game and a posthumous film. He also wrote the two Dirk Gently novels, co-wrote The Meaning of Liff and Last Chance to See, and scripted Doctor Who. His difficulty finishing anything on time was not a pose: Wikipedia records that with the manuscript of So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish weeks from due and only 25 pages written, he was locked in a hotel suite with Pan Books’ editorial director Sonny Mehta until it was finished.

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Famous lines widely pinned on Douglas Adams that we’ve traced to someone else.

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