Science Fiction Writer Dies Aged 90

Somerset-born science fiction writer Sir Arthur C Clarke has died in Sri Lanka aged 90.

Clarke's aide said that he had died at 1:30am after a cardio-respiratory attack in his homeland from 1956.

Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse paying tribute said the writer was a "great visionary".

Clarke left written instructions that his funeral should be "strictly secular", and that there should be "absolutely no religious rites of any kind, relating to any religious faith".

Sir Arthur was educated at Hulsh's Grammar School in Taunton before joining the civil service.

During World War II he volunteered for the Royal Air Force where he worked in the development of radar, a highly secretive area which helped feed his imagination.

Sir Arthur wrote more than 100 fiction and non-fiction books, he is credited as giving science fiction "a human face".

He collaborated on the screenplay for '2001: A Space Odyssey' directed by Stanley Kubrik.

British astronomer Sir Patrick Moore paid tribute to his friend saying: "He was ahead of his times in so many ways.

"A great science fiction writer, a very good scientist, a great prophet and a very dear friend."

George Whitesides, National Space Society said: "That particular enthusiasm of his was what I think made him so popular in many ways, that he was always thinking about what could come next but also about how life could be improved in the future."

Sir Arthur moved to Sri Lanka in 1956 after his marriage broke down and pursued his hobby in scuba diving.

Since 1995, the author has suffered from post-polio syndrome, which severely inhibited his movement.

Clarke said on his birthday last year: "I want to be remembered most as a writer. I want to entertain readers and hopefully stretch their imagination as well.

"If I have given you delight in all that I have done, let me lie quiet in that night, which shall be yours anon."

Clarke was born in Minehead on 16 December, 1917.

(DS/JM)