http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,...

I just found out too! I'm in shock!
He was one of my favourite writers :(

He was one of the first authors whose books I started my reading with. It was a shocking news. :(
R.I.P Michael.

Gee, not only do I think of Crichton as young...imaginative and full of elan vital...he really was young! His passing is a shock. I also found that his novels really got me reading. He had so much variet of interests i his life with gaming and ideas...and most of all he could present a concept and idea in a very unique...original manner. I will never forget how terrified and captivated I was by his dinosuars (both novel and film).

If all else I will always love Crchton for ER which ironically(?) is in it's final year. This series has followed fantastic characters, edgy suspense and story arcs for over ten years...it's kind of to the point where it feels like it's part of my life.

R.I.P. Mr Imagination. If anything I thought he would have figured out a way to be cryogenically preserved of all people.

I liked Michael Crichton also. Sphere was my favorite. The Great Train Robbery? I read one book by him, I think it was one of his first, written under a pen name, it was a medical mystery, ah yes, A Case of Need.

It is sad. I'm very fond of his writing.

This is a sad day. He's my first favorite sci-fi author. The movies made based on his books didn't do them justice. Jurassic Park, The Lost World, Timeline...all masterpieces. His books actually the ones that brought back my interest in studying physics in school. And Ian Malcolm is my hero.

RIP Sir, thanks for the inspiration.

I'll try to get hold of "A case of need" Andy. I've read almost all his books and wouldn't want to miss out on his first. Thanks for sharing that info.

I've read most his books too...I remember going into a sort of feverish mode trying to get my hands on anything he wrote and realizing i had to wait for him to write the next book because I already read everything he wrote.

ah! my first love in science fiction, but he was so much more than just science, always infusing his stories with his morals, ideas.. my favourite was Timeline.

I'm saddened. It's the passing of a great creative from the spheres of this world, and he will be sorely missed indeed.

My favorite Michael Crichton books are The Andromeda Strain, Timeline and Jurassic Park. I have Prey sitting on my to-read shelf at home and may pick it up to read in memorial to him.

I enjoyed Prey. I read it while on vacation and it was a fast read, as his books usually are. You don't read his books for character development. It's plot, action, plot, action.

Yup Sherry, you're right, most of his novels are technological thrillers. Prey was about nanotechnology and he covered most of the topics ranging from genetic engineering to Quantum Physics.
I particularly loved one of his lesser known novels titled 'Airframe' which was about a plane crash and based on a true story ,I think. The level of details were astounding and the novel unravels at a breathtaking pace.

Yep, I think Jurasic Park nd The Adromeda Strain are my favourites too...the worlds and details of the novel were so cool and vast. He had such a huge influence in popular culture. He was a great writer for when one was travelling or at the beach, good point Sherry.

Kim , my first lov in reading is science fiction too...although I rarely read science fiction much now or for the last many years. I have told this story many times her e with this group of Constant Readers...but not to you folks...I was a terrible reader growing up. I have learning disabilities and very strong dyslexia...especially it acts up if I'm tired or nervous. I was in remedial reading classes in elementary school and was a very late reader.

If it weren't for the excitement and mystery of science fiction and comic books...I am sure I wouldn't have persevered. Eventually, I got so sick of being called "retard" when I left one class room to go to remedial reading...I just worked really hard at finding a way to read.

The Adromeda Strain was one of the books that was very popular with kids in high school...(I know I was still a very slow reader in high school...I'm one of those slow learners...) and I really wanted to read books that were trendy...plus exciting. It is normal for kids to be attracted to science fiction or racy literature because teens really get into "sensational" stories, plots or characers (look at the 90210, the remake, and Gossip Girl popularity! Smallville, Buffy)...and...I credit Cricton's books with motivating me to read to find out "what happens"! Science fiction was really rendy in west coast high schools I went to...Cricton, Robin Cook, Ray Bradbury, Philip K Dick, Anne McCaffery...anything with lots of action and plot.

I can't believe how long Michael Cricton was a working writer most of his life! Pretty impressive.

I, too, was saddened by the death of Michael Crichton. I thought he was an excellent writer, able to spin a story that flowed smoothly. I especially enjoyed Timeline, and I only wish that the movie had done justice to the novel. This fine author will be missed.

I heard about Michael Crichton's death this morning as I was getting ready for school. The radio said he had died and I sat down on the bed in shock. He had so much talent, and so much life, and now he's gone. What saddened me most was that the DJ said only that he wrote the two Jurassic Park books and episodes of E.R. Nothing about any other of his achivements, none of his other best selling books...I think more people should be aware of just how many good books he wrote and ideas he had...(I also believe that all copies of the movie Timeline should be burned, but that's just me...they completely ruined a great story)

ah, I figured they didn't do a good job with the Timeline movie... though I think the technology is there now for them to have made it good... ah well..

Candy, I'm glad you caught on to him when you did :) that's ok if you were a late reader, at least now you have the love. I was more interested in art, but boy! did his science fiction grab my attention! His writing is what drew me into science fiction, though sometimes I had to wrap my head around some things :) I definitely learned more than I anticipated from his writings.

I read the Timeline when I was 13 or 14. Obviously, the quantum physics and everything in that novel went OHT for me. But now when I know things, I really appreciate the novel.