Introduction -- 1. Early (talking) doors -- Dear Douglas: Margo Buchanan -- 2. Cambridge life -- 3. Collaborations -- Feature: on '42' -- 4. Deep thoughts -- 5. Doctor Who -- 6. The guide -- Dear Douglas: Dirk Maggs -- Feature: on love -- 7. Snail mail -- 8. Fame, flying and awards -- Feature: on 'bop ad' -- 9. Later invitations to collaborate -- Feature: on the desktop -- 10. Holisitic detective -- Dear Douglas: Arvind Ethan David -- 11. Last chances -- 12. Fan of science and technology -- Dear Douglas: Neil Gaiman -- 13. Exploring the digital world -- Dear Douglas: Robbie Stamp -- Feature: on 'The division bell' -- Epilogue: dead for tax reasons.
Summary:
"When Douglas Adams died in 2001, he left behind 60 boxes full of notebooks, letters, scripts, jokes, speeches and even poems. In 42, compiled by Douglas's long-time collaborator Kevin Jon Davies, hundreds of these personal artefacts appear in print for the very first time. Douglas was as much a thinker as he was a writer, and his artefacts reveal how his deep fascination with technology led to ideas which were far ahead of their time: a convention speech envisioning the modern smartphone, with all the information in the world living at our fingertips; sheets of notes predicting the advent of electronic books; journal entries from his forays into home computing - it is a matter of legend that Douglas bought the very first Mac in the UK; musings on how the internet would disrupt the cd-rom industry, among others. 42 also features archival material charting Douglas's school days through Cambridge, Footlights, collaborations with Graham Chapman, and early scribbles from the development of Doctor Who, Hitchhiker's and Dirk Gently. Alongside details of his most celebrated works are projects that never came to fruition, including the pilot for radio programme They'll Never Play That on the Radio and a space-inspired theme park ride. Douglas's personal papers prove that the greatest ideas come from the fleeting thoughts that collide in our own imagination, and offer a captivating insight into the mind of one of the twentieth century's greatest thinkers and most enduring storytellers"--Publisher's description.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.