Arthur C Clarke

Sir Arthur C Clarke was born in Blenheim Road, Minehead in 1917 and died at the age of 90 after suffering breathing problems. Best known for the blockbuster movie '2001 A Space Odyssey', directed by the legendary Stanley Kubrick and based on his short story 'The Sentinel' Sir Arthur C Clarke achieved worldwide fame and fortune.

His brother Fred still lives near Bishops Lydeard and has an entire room at his home dedicated to Arthur C Clarke memorabilia.

Although born in Minehead, Sir Arthur only lived in the town for just over a year. He spent his childhood and early life on the family farm near Bishops Lydeard. His mother, Nora, worked in Bishops Lydeard Post Office and it was there that she met his father, Charles, who was the the postmistress' son. The couple were married during World War One and had four children - Arthur, Fred, Mary and Michael.

Sir Arthur attended Huish's Grammar School in Taunton before joining the civil service. During World War Two he served with the Royal Air Force and worked on the highly secretive development of radar. He went on to to study maths and physics at King's College in London before becoming a full-time writer in the late 1940s.

His stories foresaw the invention of satellites and mobile telephone technology and he counted both Rupert Murdoch and CNN founder Ted Turner among his friends.

He married in 1953 but the marriage was short-lived and he separated from his wife just six months later. He moved to Sri Lanka in 1956 and in 1988 was diagnosed with post-polio syndrome which left him confined to a wheelchair. He was knighted in 2000, although the knighthood had been delayed when allegations of child abuse surfaced in the late 1990s. Sir Arthur always strenuously denied the claims and he was cleared following an investigation. He last visited Minehead in 1992 when he opened a 'Space Age Festival' which coincided with his 75th birthday.

Born in in 1917, and educated at Huish's Grammar School in Taunton, author and inventor Arthur C Clarke is most famous for his science fiction novel 2001: A Space Odyssey.

He entered H.M. Exchequer & Audit Department in 1936, then served in the RAF. While running the prototype GCA (Ground Controlled Approach) radar, he developed the basic theory of Communications Satellites, and published it in 1945.

After demobilization, he took First Class Honours in Physics and Mathematics at King's College, London, which later elected him Fellow. From 1948 to 1950 he was Assistant Editor of Physics Abstracts at the Institution of Electrical Engineers. he was Chairman of the British Interplanetary Society 1946/7, 1950/3.

Since 1954 his interest in underwater exploration has taken him to the Great Barrier Reef of Australia and the Indian Ocean, and he is now a director of the Colombo-based Underwater Safaris.

He has published more than seventy books and made many appearances on radio and TV, most notably with Walter Cronkite on CBS during the Apollo missions. His 13-part "Mysterious World" and "Strange Powers" TV programmes have been seen worldwide.

He was a Council Member of the Society of Authors, A Vice-President of the H.G. Wells Society and a member of many other Scientific and Literary Organizations. His honours include several Doctorates in science and literature, a Franklin Institute Award, the UNESCO-Kalinga prize, and an Oscar Nomination for the Screenplay of 200l: A Space Odyssey. In 1987 he was invited to New Delhi to deliver the Nehru Memorial lecture, under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. He has also been Vikram Sarabhai Professor at the Physical Research Laboratories, Ahmedabad. In 1989 the astronauts' and cosmonauts' exclusive organization, the Association of Space Explorers, awarded him their Special Achievement medal at a ceremony in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

His recreations include observing the Equatorial skies with a 14" telescope, table-tennis (despite Post-Polio Syndrome) and playing with his Rhodesian Ridgeback and his six computers.

He lived in Sri Lanka for 30 years, and in 1979 President Jayewardene appointed him Chancellor of the University of Moratuwa, near Colombo, which is the location of the government-established Arthur Clarke Centre for Modern Technologies, specializing in communications and computers. he was also Chancellor of the International Space University, and Master of Richard Huish College, Taunton.

In 1989 H.M. the Queen awarded him a CBE for "services to British cultural interests in Sri Lanka." On returning to UK in 1992 for his 75th birthday celebrations, he was made the first Freeman of his home town, Minehead. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994.

Arthur C Clarke

Contributed by: Tim Holden