This will probably cause some arguements because of some of his beliefs regarding global warming but I thought I would post this story.  Michael Crichton has died at the age of 66 from a "short" battle with cancer.  Not sure how long "short" is suppose to be but he was apparently keeping it private.  Really enjoyed his books but, unfortunately, they were all turned into horrible movies, in my humble opinion.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/books/11/05/obit.crichton/index.html