happy birthday, Douglas Adams
That is a picture of what is left of my very first copy of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. I stumbled upon this book in middle school. At that point, I had gone through my Michael Crichton and Stephen King phase, exhausting all the books that had been turned into movies that interested me. The novels that were being forced upon us in school had no appeal and I was starting to give up on reading for pleasure.
But that all changed one night while chatting with my Mom. I don't remember the specifics anymore. I feel like I was complaining about homework or an English paper or a story I was writing. I said something about trying to solve the mysteries of the universe and my Mom said something about "42". I, of course, had no idea what she was talking about. She mentioned the Guide and said I should read it. Now, I had seen that book many many times on the bookshelf in the computer room, a shelf filled with a lot of my Dad's yellowed paperbacks. I assumed it was just an astronomy book, you know, like the Rough Guide series. I told her this and she laughed and went and got the book for me.
I immediately fell in love with the story, but what connected with me most was the humor. I have never found another writer that was just so on my wave-length when it came to that dry, sarcastic wit.
And (because it's me) I became obsessed. I read all the books in the series, plus the Dirk Gently novels (I took the book on cassette out from the library of 'Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul and memorized most of it while playing Tetris that summer). I managed to catch a re-airing of the BBC Miniseries on PBS, which I recorded onto VHS and also transferred to cassette to listen to on my walkman on the bus every morning until I had it committed to memory (Oh and I had SUCH a crush on Ford Prefect). I even made a "Don't Panic" clock in my woodshop class. Eventually, I went to London with my family and managed to get my hands on a copy of the actual radio show (I now own the entire set on CD). And I collect random copies of the book from our library donations all the time so I always have extras on hand in case of an emergency. Yes, I saw the new movie in the theaters but Simon Jones will always be my Arthur <3
It became a litmus test for me as I passed the book around to everyone I knew, making them read it. (I even gave a copy to Dave Matthews when I met him in college...I know, I'm a dork STFU).
So, thank you Douglas Adams. You showed me that a book could be both touching and hilarious. You gave me geek cred before I knew what that even meant. You gave me the comfort of "42" and a reason to always bring a towel.
Miss you.