Douglas Adams

Heroes are people you look up to, are inspired by, and hear about on the news. Douglas Adams might not have been in the news saving lives, but he brings inspiration to other writers. Born in Cambridge, England, Adams grew up to become a writer for not only Doctor Who, but was a radio show writer who later became an author of a very recognized book series that sold "100,000 copies in its first month alone." (Gale) A hero must possess dauntlessness and creativity, Douglas Adams had both.

Douglas Adams showed humorous ways of getting out common opinions of everyday people. This has been noted by journalists over time. "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy pokes fun at the pomposities and incomprehensibility of computer experts and government departments. It hit a contemporary nerve in offering a hero who is as baffled by scientific language as is most of the audience; yet, it also helped to familiarize people, particularly the British, with the language of the digital organization and retrieval of data."(Gale)Adams can inspire people through his books to see even some of the most boring things as a joke. He also made characters as fun and everyday living as a friend can be. Along with that comes this: "Adams was the science fiction writer for those who didn't really like science fiction. He was funny, sophisticated and surreal, but his greatest trick was to humanise science and technology."(New Scientist) He created a new type of science fiction as humorous as books specified to be comedy. In doing so, he paved a way for other writers like himself. Adams may have brought humor that causes loud outburst in a quiet place, but he was more than that.

Adams was dauntless in his writing, showing multiple sides of himself. One of his interviews explains it; " 'I sort of laid down on the ground and stared up at the stars,' Adams told Susan Adamo of Starlog in a 1981 interview, 'and it occurred to me then that somebody ought to write a hitch hiker's guide to the galaxy. The thought didn't come back to me for years afterward.' When it did, after Douglas had been writing scripts for England's BBC radio for several years, it returned with the resounding thud of the planet Earth being destroyed, and one Arthur Dent being propelled into space to become the first galactic hitchhiker."(Authors and Artists for Young Adults) He as a hero found a new and original way to bring a fun story right to your fingertips. And he really showed great imagination and brevity towards critical crowds. Adams's introduction of his series is talked about here, "The Hitchhiker's Guide The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy had its origins as a series for BBC radio, first broadcast in 1978. After a trip across Europe, inspired by the format of practical travel guides such as The Hitchhiker's Guide to Europe by Ken Welsh, Adams set out to write a guide to the mysteries of the galaxy. With the reassuringly familiar voice of Peter Jones, a BBC radio celebrity, as 'The Book,' the radio series was self-consciously comic."(Gale) Adams wrote something that he didn't know if it was going to be liked by his audience. Which was brave of him to bring it to a crowd first, and not have it go through small groups over time. 

Adams was a creative author in his field. It's expressed here in an interview he had "'I never set out to be a novelist, because I thought I was just a scriptwriter. When I was asked by Pan Books to turn my radio scripts of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy into a book, I thought that there were two ways of doing it. I could either do the normal script-novelization hack job, which involves going through the script putting 'he said' or 'she said' (and in the case of my books, 'it said' as well) at the end of each line, or I could have a go at doing it properly. I decided to see if I could do it properly.' Adams's first attempt at a novel proved immensely successful, garnering favorable reviews and selling 100,000 copies in its first month alone."(Concise Majors 21^st century writers) He showed readers a great style of writing, minus most of the dialogue tags that speed you over areas. This can inspire other writers to follow in his foot-steps, by taking time on their work. This isn't his only creative moment. "Although the plots of the Hitchhiker novels are science fictional, Adams asserted, 'I'm not a science fiction writer, but a comedy writer who happens to be using the conventions of science fiction for this particular thing.'"(Concise Majors 21^st Century Writers) Adams wrote how he wanted to, by bringing in sci-fi, comedy, and a hint of drama. This truly widens the imagination past genres being separate worlds. This shows Adams at his best.

A writer, and an author, Adams can inspire young writers to reach their full potential in anything they create. He has showed dauntlessness, creativity, and humor. He inspires us in reaching our full potential, and going for it by showing our ideas to the world. Douglas Adams died on May 11, 2001, but his life's work and ideas live on with us today.

Works Consulted

"Adams, Douglas." Gale Contextual Encyclopedia of World Literature. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale,                        2009. 12-16. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 8 Apr. 2013.

"Don't panic!" New Scientist 170.2293 (2001): 50. Student Resources In Context. Web. 8 Apr. 2013.

"Douglas Adams." Authors and Artists for Young Adults. Vol. 33. Detroit: Gale, 2000.Biography In              Context. Web. 8 Apr. 2013.

"Adams, Douglas 1952-2001." Concise Major 21st Century Writers. Ed. Tracey L. Matthews.                      Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 33-38. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 8 Apr. 2013.