Because of where he was living at the time (Santa Barbara, 2001), Adams actually was carrying a towel when he died. In true Douglas fashion, he advocated using exercise as a way of combating his depression, then died of a massive heart attack at age 49 while at the gym. Hitchhiker was constructed in a typically Adams fashion - he was notorious for cribbing from his own previous works, and a good many aspects of Hitchhiker had been put to paper in some form (mostly Adams' own plays and unpublished short stories) before the series itself was conceived. He also considered himself a radical atheist, but the 'radical' bit was just to show people that he was serious about it (as opposed to merely being agnostic), not because he was intolerant or aggressive. He was involved in a BBC radio production (and then book) with Mark Carwardine called Last Chance To See, where he made his case for the necessity of biodiversity and the need for conservation initiatives, and also for paying comedy writers to go on holiday. His interests included evolutionary biology, software technology, Apple computers, the music of Pink Floyd, Bach, and The Beatles, and SCUBA diving. Anyone who actually knew where their towel was, he reasoned, would have to be a really together person. That was where the joke came from: he could never, ever find his towel, and figured that it was probably symptomatic of the general disorganization of his whole life. TV has this to say about Douglas Noel Adams (Ma– May 11, 2001).Ī British humorist and Science Fiction writer, most renowned for having written The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 'trilogy', the Dirk Gently series, and three Doctor Who stories during the Tom Baker era (he was the script editor during Season 17).Ī really hoopy frood, he was very fond of deadlines ( he 'liked the whooshing sound they made as they flew by') and always knew where his towel was.

Douglas adams last chance to see