"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" is a comedic novel written by Douglas Adams and published in 1979. The novel's witty, dry take on a space opera was an immediate hit with readers. It was adapted from a radio serial in 1978 and adapted into many other formats including the novel series (which includes 5 […]
Douglas Adams
Douglas Noel Adams was born in Cambridge, England in March of 1952. His family moved to London shortly after his birth and when his parents divorced a few years later he and his mother and sister moved to an animal shelter that his grandparents ran in Essex. Adams grew very quickly. By the age of 12, he was 6 feet tall and would later reach 6'5. He excelled in writing classes at his private school and began being published in his school's newspaper at the age of 10.
He became a member of the 'Footlights' an invitation-only comedy club at his school and in 1974 he graduated with a BA in English Literature. Adams moved back to London after graduating as he was set on making it as a TV writer. He eventually was discovered by famous Monty Python comedian Graham Chapman and the two had a short writing partnership. Adams appeared in the fourth season of the show "Monty Python's Flying Circus". However, after this ended Adams career briefly stalled. He worked a series of odd jobs until he managed to sell a few radio broadcasts and eventually became the script editor for the famous British Sci-fi show Doctor Who.
In 1977, Adams pitched the idea of "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" to his radio producers. He later said that he came up with the idea while drunk and laying in a field in Austria. He had with him a copy of the "Hitchhiker's Guide to Europe" and wondered why no one had ever written a "Hitchhiker's Guide to the galaxy". The novel was produced following the success of the radio broadcast in 1979 and Adams produced 5 more novels in the series in rapid succession.
In 1980, Adams began talks to turn the series into a movie and the next year managed to turn it into a hit BBC TV series. In 1994, Adams and his then wife Jane Belson had a daughter, Polly Adams and the family moved to Santa Barbara, California.
Adams wrote another series, 'Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency' during the 1980s and published several other books during that time period.
In May of 2001, Adams died of a heart attack at a gym in California. His funeral was held in California and his remains were returned to Highgate Cemetery in London. After this, his wife and daughter moved back to London. Adams legacy continues to live on and a movie of 'Hitchhiker's Guide' was made in 2005 and was well received by fans of the books.
