Michael Crichton - bmj.com

1 BMJ | 15 NOVEMBER 2008 | V OluME 337 1171 OBITUARIESM edicine was a starting point for Michael Crichton . He used his lifelong interest in medicine and science, and his curiosity, to become one of the most successful authors and creators of all than 150 million copies of his books have been published in 36 languages. His annual income was estimated at between $20m ( 13m; 16m) and $ published novels, non-fiction books, and two screenplays. He wrote, directed, or coproduced 13 films that were based on his books. He created the long running television series ER. Two of his works were turned into computer Spielberg, his friend and the director of the film jurassic park , said, Michael s talent outscaled even his own dinosaurs in jurassic park .

2 He was the greatest at blending science with big theatrical concepts, which is what gave credibility to dinosaurs again walking the earth. The television series ER was originally planned as a film, but Crichton put the project aside to work on jurassic park . He returned to the script, which became the long running hospital television long time press agent, Joe Marich, said, His thirst for knowledge was unparalleled. He read only non-fiction and scientific journals. He d read an article and say, That s interesting, but it doesn t sound right. Then Crichton would look into the subject, and the result of his investigations was often an international of his books began with a what if? approach. What if something that might happen did happen and then got out of control?

3 His first big success was The Andromeda Strain, about a virus from space that causes an outbreak of a fatal disease in a small US town, which he wrote while still a medical student. jurassic park was about cloning dinosaur DNA trapped in amber and recreating dinosaurs to live in a theme park . The dinosaurs got loose, to the terror and delight of readers and viewers of the 2004 book State of Fear was about global warming. He insisted that the evidence on global made new departures [in subject matter] book by book. Marich, his press agent, describes Crichton as unusual in that he was able to write in the different styles required for novels, film, and , his publisher, said, He was quite wonderful to work with, extraordinarily collaborative.

4 He wanted to be involved in every part of the process, including the interior design of the book, which is most unusual. He had brilliant and innovative ideas for marketing, Crichton was not a temperamental star. He was extraordinarily charming to everyone high and low in the company, said won many awards from the Mystery Writers of America, the American Medical Writers Association, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Peabody Award, the Writers Guild of America. He won an Emmy award for 2002 a dinosaur was named after him, an ankylosaur named Crichtonsaurus was married five times and divorced four times. He leaves a daughter, Taylor, by his fourth wife, the actress Anne-Marie Martin, with whom he wrote the screenplay for the movie Twister.

5 He is survived by his fifth wife, Sherri Alexander, and his Hopkins Tanne Michael Crichton , novelist and film maker (b Chicago, 23 October 1942; q Harvard Medical School 1969), died from cancer in Los Angeles on 4 November this as: BMJ 2008;337:a2517warming wasn t good, but reviewers and critics mistakenly said that he didn t believe in global final book, Next, was about a transgenic creature, the result of an experiment that got out of hand after a scientist inserted human genes into a chimpanzee was working on another book when he died suddenly after having had cancer for some time. The status of this book is not was born in Chicago, the son of John Crichton , editor of Advertising Age, a trade publication, and Zula Miller Crichton .

6 He grew up in Roslyn, Long Island, a suburb of New York attended Harvard University, originally majoring in English. Several sources relate how, believing that a professor had been giving him unusually low marks, he submitted a paper by George Orwell as his own. The professor gave it only a middling B minus grade. Crichton changed his major to anthropology and graduated in 1964 with the highest received a fellowship and in 1965 became a lecturer in anthropology at Cambridge then returned to Harvard, graduating from its medical school in in medical school he wrote mystery stories and novels under the names John Lange and Jeffery Hudson to help pay his fees, including The Andromeda Strain. These pseudonyms were jokes about his height (he was m (6 feet, 9 inches) tall: Lange is a German surname meaning tall or long, and Sir Jeffery Hudson was a dwarf at the court of Queen Henrietta Maria, consort of Charles he graduated he took up a postdoctoral fellowship at the Salk Institute for Biological Sciences in La Jolla, California, but soon turned to full time writing.)

7 He is thought never to have practised as a most authors, even bestselling ones, Crichton did not bring his publisher an outline or a proposal. It was mysterious how he came up with ideas, said Jonathan Burnham, senior vice president at HarperCollins, his publisher. He worked by himself and delivered the finished manuscript. He would just write the book. He OBITUARIESFor the full versions of articles in this section see CrichtonDoctor, novelist, and film maker, author of The Andromeda Strain, jurassic park , and at least 20 other books, and creator of the television series ER1172 BMJ | 15 NOVEMBER 2008 | V OluME 337 OBITUARIESE dward John Walter BowieProfessor emeritus of medicine Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota (b 1925; q Oxford/University College Hospital, London, 1951; MS, DM), d 16 March studies in Classics at Oxford interrupted by the second world war, Edward John Walter Bowie ( Walter ) served in the Royal Navy, studying medicine after the war.

8 In 1954 he started general practice in Canada, and in 1958 a fellowship in internal medicine took him to the Mayo Clinic. He developed special expertise in haemostasis and blood coagulation. In 1963 he and his co-workers first reported the importance of thrombosis in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and circulating anticoagulants. He served on national and international committees and editorial boards; wrote over 300 articles and five books; and received many awards. He leaves a wife, Trudi; four children; and seven Poller Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a2148 Peter John DennisFormer general practitioner Skipton, North Yorkshire (b 1931; q St Andrews 1956), died from acute renal failure due to prostate cancer on 9 October John Dennis won the gold medal for medicine in his final year and captained the university cricket and squash teams.

9 He was offered a job to train as a physician with Professor Sir Iain Hill but chose general practice. An unassuming man, he regarded mending old ladies lavatories as an occasional part of the job, and he played the piano for a patient for whom medication was no longer appropriate but who still tried to play the cello and would give Peter a new piece to learn after each visit. Peter retired early owing to ill health, Tullio s phenomenon later curtailing his main hobby of music. He leaves a wife, Dorothy; four children; and 11 Harvie Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a2442 John Alexander DewFormer general practitioner Horsham, West Sussex (b 1920; q The London 1945; MBE, DL, DObstRCOG), d 7 September finals during air raids and junior doctor posts at The London, John Alexander Dew spent three years as a doctor for the merchant navy aboard an Atlantic cable ship.

10 After teaching new students at The London, he returned to Horsham to help his father in general practice, remaining a partner for 35 years until his retirement. He received an MBE in 2002 for his services to the community, particularly to Horsham Cricket Club, of which he was president for 44 years. An occasional Sussex player, he set up the junior cricket coaching scheme and trained several of the Sussex squad. Predeceased by his wife, Rosemary, in 2006, he leaves two daughters and three Dew Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a2441 Robert Henry Palmer FitzpatrickFormer consultant in anaesthetics Bromley Group Hospitals and Queen Mary Hospital (b 1914; q Guy s Hospital, London, 1949; FFARCS), d 1 March in British India, Robert Henry Palmer Fitzpatrick ( Fitz ) came from a family of army doctors and was in the medical corps before the start of the second world war, when he served in the western desert and Rome.