Chrichtonisis

Michael Chrichton died today. Or perhaps he has been cryogenically preserved in some highly scientific and complex fashion until a cure can be found, or until his next book comes out. This would be highly ironic, considering his pronounced skepticism about global warming. Or maybe a sliver of his DNA will be saved to create an army of science fiction novelists bent on taking over the world via Kindle.
I can forgive the man his politics, since he had such an early and emphatic impact on my life. The apocryphal tale of how I came to read "The Andromeda Strain" over the summer before my fourth grade year is just one of those moments. I read those three hundred-plus pages with all its technical terms and adult vocabulary. When I showed up that September and told my new teacher that I had consumed this novel that did not appear on the approved fourth grade reading list. I got a lot of hard looks from Miss Stuart until she realized that I had accomplished this mild feat in part because I spent my summer in a mountain cabin with no TV. Michael Chrichton was my video.
It just so happened that I picked up "The Terminal Man" a couple of years later, not because I had any real connection to the author, but it had a cool cover and even though I wasn't as fond of it as "Andromeda," I devoured it just the same. It was this same year that I went to see "Westworld," mostly because it was featured in "Famous Monsters of Filmland" magazine. Little did I know that this was yet another brick, written and directed, in the entertainment empire of Michael Chrichton. I was eleven.
By the time "ER" and "Jurassic Park" rolled around, I had become fully aware of the brand name that was Chrichton. I remember trying to get through "Sphere," and finding it mildly entertaining, but more like a polished version of a Stephen King book. At least Chrichton could write an ending.
And now we've reached the end of Michael. Thanks for the memories, if not the periodic nightmares, and for helping me set the bar extra high in Miss Stuart's fourth grade class.