Give me enough points and go to Shi Lanka and stalk the guy!

I'm getting kind of tired of saying this, but I knew very little about this topic when I started this task. I have been drawn towards tasks that haven’t been completed yet as well as ones that provide me an opportunity to learn something. This filled both criteria.


I have read the last two books in the 2001 series and I am a huge fan of both movies, so Clarke is not a complete unknown to me. I also know that he had been very diligent about trying to have his work be grounded in physics and that allot of his "inventions" have been developed and implemented with
success. I also knew that he had a huge following (Probably slightly smaller than Shatner's, but with a much higher average IQ)

As far as the space elevator goes I knew it was a thing that someone thought of once and by the structure of the task I assumed that someone was Arthur C. Clarke.

So the internet research began. I’m not going to write a report on the space elevator but suffice it to say that I learned enough about it and its history to formulate what passes for an intelligent question to a Science Fiction Genius.

I was unable to locate a personal website. The closest I came was The Arthur c. Clarke Foundation. I also stumbled across a fan website which provided lots of contact information for agents and lawyers, etc. It also had a standard reply which he supposedly sent out in 2002 which reads:

Dear friend,

Help - I'm suffering from Information Overload!

I have tried to drink from Niagara and am in danger of drowning. Over the past few years, I've been gradually overwhelmed by the amount of information that arrives in the mail, through television and radio, and increasingly by fax and email. All sorting methods provide only temporary relief: they are like building new roads to ease the traffic - very quickly, more vehicles turn up and conditions are even worse.

I have therefore gone into emergency mode, and am unplugging myself from every network and mailing list. I had valued and welcomed your occasional circulars, alerts, jokes or updates, but am no longer able to cope. I must therefore ask you to please stop sending me any emails, faxes or letters with general information on space, astronomy, science fiction, oceanography or any other areas in which you know I am interested. I directly access sufficient information in all these fields to keep myself updated, at a pace and quantity I can cope with.

The only exceptions to the above rule are items in obscure sources that specifically mention me, and which require action on my part.
I hope you will understand and cooperate with me on what has become a survival strategy!

All good wishes,
Sir Arthur C Clarke

PS: You are welcome to copy or adapt this letter in your own defense!

Upon reading this I decided that harassing an ageing (89 year old) literary icon over a 15pt task is a little on the bastardly side. But then again, maybe that fan site was just a delusion of some freako nerdling bent on hording Arthur c. Clark all to him self, and that kind of crap doesn’t stop me from drafting a letter and sending it, at least, to The A.C.C Foundation:

To Whom It May Concern,

I have been tasked with soliciting the opinion of Mr. Clark on the topic of the space elevator. Aside from his general feelings on the feasibility and prospects of the project given the current technologies we have at our disposal, I would like to know what he feels would need to happen within the American government and international community for a project like the Space Elevator to be a possibility. I also would like to know how he feels about contests like X Prize and the Space Elevator Games which seem to be the beginning of a movement to privatize space travel and exploration. Is this more beneficial in the long run to a slower moving bureaucratic government program? If you have the ability to redirect my queries to Mr. Clark it would be much appreciated. I have read that Mr. Clark has cut himself off from public correspondence. I would like to be respectful of his wishes and if this is indeed the case could you send me any links or information you have of his personal statements on these subjects.

Respectfully,
Christopher Ory

As of Feb 19 I have received this response from ACCF:

Chris, I have forwarded your inquiry to Sir Arthur. He may or may not reply,
as he is 89 years old and sometimes he gets a bit behind.

There is no truth whatsoever that he has cut himself off from public
correspondence in the sense that he comments frequently and for attribution
on a number of issues.

The web sources on Clarke are vast.

Regards,

ACCF

My email is on his desk :)
I may get a letter yet!

I will post any response I receive