This monthâs âHidden Historiesâ blog is all about the life of bestselling author, Douglas Adams. The 11th of March 2021 marks what would have been his 69th birthday and a new TV adaptation of his bestselling book âA Hitchhikerâs Guide to the Galaxyâ is set to hit screens soon. But who was he? And why did he strike a chord with so many of his readers?
The first time I read one of his books, I was struck by how frankly âweirdâ some of his writing was. It was unlike much of what I had read before but I loved it! The series was called âDirk Gentlyâs Holistic Detective Agencyâ, which is described by the author on its cover as a "thumping good detective-ghost-horror-whodunnit-time travel-romantic-musical-comedy- epic". True, it is slightly complicated at first but once you get into the series, I can guarantee that it will be one of the most insightful books youâve come across in a long time. But this got me thinking about the man behind the cover- who he was and how he got the inspiration for one of my favourite booksâŠ
Born in Cambridge in 1952, Adams often stood out as he was 6 feet tall by age 12, and stopped growing at 6 feet 5 inches. After graduating, he moved to London and was determined to make a break into the TV-scene. He eventually wrote episodes for âDoctor Whoâ and then inspiration famously struck for his novel âA Hitchhikerâs Guide to the Galaxyâ whilst he was out hiking in Austria, gazing at the stars. After he died in 2001 an asteroid â25924 Douglasadamsâ was named in his memory and his unfinished novel â The Salmon of Doubtâ was published.
On the 25th of May, fans of his work carry a towel with them as described in Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxyâ. This adds to the legacy that he has left behind and shows how popular his work still is. We included him in our âHidden Historiesâ series because he was never afraid to poke fun at the absurdity of the place in which he lived- in our ever-changing world, we could all take a leaf out of his book as we learn to deal with the stress in our everyday lives.
âI like the cover," he said. "Don't Panic. It's the first helpful or intelligible thing anyone's said to me all day.â
The information used in this article was gathered from Author: Douglas Adams and Towel Day - Celebrating Douglas Adams