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A heartfelt goodbye to Arthur C. Clarke

The late science-fiction writer inspired and intrigued millions with his "deceptively dry voice of cosmic wonder."

Natalie Weinstein Former Senior Editor / News
I spent a decade as a reporter and editor before joining the CNET News staff as a copy editor in 2000, right before the dot-com bust.
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Natalie Weinstein

Arthur C. Clarke, the science-fiction writer who died last week, inspired and intrigued millions with his "deceptively dry voice of cosmic wonder," writes New York Times science reporter Dennis Overbye.

Clarke was best known as co-creator of 2001: A Space Odyssey. But Overbye has cherished the author's writing since boyhood. Overbye reflects on several of the brilliant stories that poured forth from Clarke's imagination and helped Overbye discover his life's path in science: "I haven't lost my taste for cosmic mystery, for the curiosity about what might lie around the curve of the cosmos that Clarke first instilled in me."

Read the full New York Times essay: "A Boy's Life, Guided by the Voice of Cosmic Wonder"