Douglas Adams
Douglas Adams was the author of The Hitchhikerâs Guide to the Galaxy, which went straight to number one on the UK bestseller list. The Hitchhikerâs Guide to the Galaxy was followed by The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Life, The Universe, and Everything, So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish, and Mostly Harmless. He has also written two books about a figure named Dirk Gently; Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul. In 1990, Adams traveled around the world with zoologist Mark Carwardine to write Last Chance to See, a book about endangered species and the people who work to help them. At the time of his death Adams was working on his eighth novel The Salmon of Doubt, which in its incomplete published form centers again on Dirk Gently, although Adams had spoken about the possibility of changing it to another Hitchhiker novel.
Douglas Adams was born in Cambridge, UK, in March 1952 and died of heart attack in May 2001. He was an environmental activist, an avid technologist, and described himself as "a radical atheist." Richard Dawkins, a close friend and fellow atheist, dedicated his book "The God Delusion" to his memory.
During his life he won three Golden Pans and several other awards.