Douglas Adams, writer, dies

Douglas Adams, the creator of the insanely popular (and maniacally funny) Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy franchise – spanning two seasons of BBC radio series, five novels, a game and a brief TV series – dies suddenly of a heart attack in his California home at the age of 49. Adams created the Guide in 1978 as a radio series, and the subsequent “trilogy” of five books sold over 14 million copies worldwide. Recently, Adams had been working on H2G2, a cyberspace version of the Guide (to which visitors could add their own entries), as well as collaborating with Austin Powers director Jay Roach on an upcoming movie version of the story. Mr. Adams is survived by his wife Jane and a six-year-old daughter.