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Michael Crichton

		The Official Michael Crichton Myspace Page Male 67 years old California United States Last Login: 5/28/2009

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Michael Crichton 's Interests

General	*NOTE****** All information on this web page can be found at: michaelcrichton.net Thank you.
Movies	Films- PURSUIT, ABC Movie of the Week, 1972. (Director) WESTWORLD, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1973. (Writer/Director) COMA, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1978. (Writer/Director) THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY, United Artists, 1979. (Writer/Director) LOOKER, The Ladd Company, 1981. (Writer/Director) RUNAWAY, Tri-Star Pictures, 1984. (Writer/Director) PHYSICAL EVIDENCE, Columbia Pictures, 1989. (Director) JURASSIC PARK, Universal, 1993 (Co-writer) RISING SUN, Twentieth Century Fox, 1993 (Co-writer) DISCLOSURE, Warner Brothers, 1994 (Co-producer) TWISTER, Warner Brothers/Universal, 1996 (Co-writer, Co-producer) SPHERE, Warner Brothers, 1998 (Co-producer) 13th WARRIOR, Touchstone, 1999 (Co-producer) Other Films From Crichton's Books- THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN, Universal, 1971 THE CAREY TREATMENT, MGM, 1972 DEALING: OR THE BERKLEY TO BOST0N FORTY-BRICK LOST BAG BLUES, Warner Bros, 1972 THE TERMINAL MAN, Warner Bros, 1974 CONGO, Paramount, 1995 LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK, Universal, 1997 TIMELINE, Paramount, 2003 Television- ER, NBC, 1994 Creator, (co-exec. producer) This Information and more can be found at: http://michaelcrichton.net/aboutmc/biography.html Thank you.
Books	Novels- THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN, Knopf, 1969 THE TERMINAL MAN, Knopf, 1972 THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY, Knopf, 1975 EATERS OF THE DEAD, Knopf, 1976 CONGO, Knopf, 1980 SPHERE, Knopf, 1987 JURASSIC PARK, Knopf, 1990 RISING SUN, Knopf, 1992 DISCLOSURE, Knopf, 1994 THE LOST WORLD, Knopf, 1995 AIRFRAME, Knopf, 1996 TIMELINE, Knopf, 1999 PREY, Harper Collins, 2002 STATE OF FEAR, Harper Collins, 2004 NEXT, Harper Collins, 2006 Non-Fiction- FIVE PATIENTS: The Hospital Explained, Knopf, 1970 JASPER JOHNS, Abrams, 1977 ELECTRONIC LIFE, Knopf, 1983 TRAVELS, Knopf, 1988 JASPER JOHNS (revised edition), Abrams, 1994 Published Screenplays- WESTWORLD, Bantam Books, 1975 TWISTER (with Anne-Marie Martin), Ballantine Books, 1996 This information and more can be found at: http://michaelcrichton.net/aboutmc/biography.html Thank you.

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GENERAL

Michael Crichton is a writer and filmmaker, best known as the author of Jurassic Park and the creator of ER. His most recent novel, Next, about genetics and law, was published in December 2006. Crichton graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College, received his MD from Harvard Medical School, and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, researching public policy with Jacob Bronowski. He has taught courses in anthropology at Cambridge University and writing at MIT. Crichton's 2004 bestseller, State of Fear, acknowledged the world was growing warmer, but challenged extreme anthropogenic warming scenarios. He predicted future warming at 0.8 degrees C. (His conclusions have been widely misstated.) Crichton's interest in computer modeling goes back forty years. His multiple-discriminant analysis of Egyptian crania, carried out on an IBM 7090 computer at Harvard, was published in the Papers of the Peabody Museum in 1966. His technical publications include a study of host factors in pituitary chromophobe adenoma, in Metabolism, and an essay on medical obfuscation in the New England Journal of Medicine. Crichton's first bestseller, The Andromeda Strain, was published while he was still a medical student. He later worked full time on film and writing. Now one of the most popular writers in the world, his books have been translated into thirty-six languages, and thirteen have been made into films. He's had a lifelong interest in computers. His feature film Westworld was the first to employ computer-generated special effects back in 1973. Crichton's pioneering use of computer programs for film production earned him a Technical Achievement Academy Award in 1995. Crichton has won an Emmy, a Peabody, and a Writer's Guild of America Award for ER. In 2002, a newly discovered ankylosaur was named for him: Crichtonsaurus bohlini. He has a daughter, Taylor, and lives in Los Angeles. Crichton remarried in 2005.

SCHOOLING

CRICHTON, (John) Michael. American. Born in Chicago, Illinois, October 23, 1942. Educated at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, A.B. (summa cum laude) 1964 (Phi Beta Kappa). Henry Russell Shaw Travelling Fellow, 1964-65. Visiting Lecturer in Anthropology at Cambridge University, England, 1965. Graduated Harvard Medical School, M.D. 1969; post-doctoral fellow at the Salk Institute for Biological Sciences, La Jolla, California 1969-1970. Visiting Writer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1988.

AWARDS

Recipient of Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Allan Poe Award, 1968 ("A Case of Need", written under pseudonym Jeffery Hudson); and 1980 ("The Great Train Robbery"). Association of American Medical Writers Award, 1970 ("Five Patients"); Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Technical Achievement Award, 1995 ("for pioneering computerized motion picture budgeting and scheduling"); George Foster Peabody Award (for "ER"); Writer's Guild of America Award, Best Long Form Television Script of 1995 (for "ER") Emmy, Best Dramatic Series, 1996 (for "ER"). Ankylosaur named Crichtonsaurus bohlini, 2002.

ASSOCIATIONS

Member of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Author's Guild, Writers Guild of America, Directors Guild of America, P.E.N. America Center, Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Phi Beta Kappa. Board of Directors, International Design Conference at Aspen, 1985-91; Board of Trustees, Western Behavioral Sciences Institute, La Jolla, 1986-91. Board of Overseers, Harvard University, 1990-96. Board of Directors, Drug Strategies, 1994-, Author's Guild Council, 1995-, Board of Directors, Gorilla Foundation, 2002-, Board of Trustees, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2006-

REFERENCES

Contemporary Authors, 1971-; Who's Who in America, 1974-; Current Biography, April 1976; Film Encyclopedia, 1979-; International Motion Picture Almanac, 1996; International Television & Video Almanac, 1996.

This information and more can be found at:

http://michaelcrichton.net/aboutmc/biography.html

Thank you.

QUESTIONS BY YOUNG READERS

Where were you born? What's your background?

I was born in Chicago in 1942, during World War II. Not long after my birth my father was drafted. When he went overseas I lived with my mother and sister in Fort Morgan, Colorado, a town of about 2,000 people, until the war was over. Then we moved to Roslyn, Long Island which is where I grew up and went to school.

What got you to start writing?

My dad was a journalist, so I saw him typing when I was growing up, so it seem like a normal occupation, to sit down and type something as your job. I myself began writing pretty young. In the third grade we all had to do puppet shows and most of the kids just did a little skit. I wrote a 9 page play that my father had to type up for me, using carbon paper, so all the kids would know their parts. And I wrote a lot in fifth and sixth grade, too, and I became known for it; I was the weird kid who wrote extra assignments the teacher didn't ask for. I just did it because I liked writing so much. I was tall and gangly and awkward and I needed to escape, I guess.

When I was fourteen, my family took a car trip to the West, and we visited Sunset Crater National Monument in Arizona. I thought it was very interesting and people should know about it. My parents suggested that I write an article about it for the New York Times travel section, which accepted articles by regular people who had had an interesting travel experience. So I wrote my article and sent it in, and the New York Times printed it, which really encouraged me. (They paid $60. I still have the check stub.) I also wrote for the town newspaper, covering high school sports, and for the school paper. Later, I wrote for the college newspaper, the Harvard Crimson.

I wanted to become a writer but didn't think it was likely I could make a living at it, so I went to medical school. I was looking forward to becoming a doctor. Then I started writing paperback thrillers to pay my way through medical school, and the books began to be successful. Finally I just decided to do it full time, after graduation.

Where do you get your ideas for your books?

I wish I knew. They just seem to come from nowhere. But often I think people put too much emphasis on the "idea" behind a story, anyway. First of all, there isn't just one idea in a story, there are lots of ideas. And second, an idea by itself isn't worth much until you do the work necessary to get it down on paper. And in the course of doing the writing, the idea often changes. It's similar to the difference between having an idea for a building, and actually constructing the building. The building often turns out differently from the original plan or intention.

How did you become such a good writer?

Plenty of writing! I began writing really diligently when I was in high school, and I kept at it.

What advice do you have for someone who wants to be a writer?

I am sorry to say I don't have any advice except to write as much as you can, and keep writing. It's often said that if you can do anything else with your life, you should, because the life of a writer can be a difficult one. I think that's good advice.

If you really want to pursue writing, there are some journals you can use for guidance and reference:
The Writer, and Writer's Digest, both of which have articles about writing, and list publishers for books and magazines. Nearly all libraries have these journals.

Do you read your books once they are published?

No. It takes a long time to write a book, and by the time it is finally on the store shelves I am usually working on a new one. From time to time, I've gone back and looked at earlier books (it's not really fair to say I read them, I just sort of flipped through the pages and read a paragraph here and there.) I usually like them, although they usually seem to me to have been written by somebody else.

Why do you like to write science-fiction books?

I don't know, I have a technical background and technical stories interest me. So that's what usually comes out of my head. But I have also written historical novels and non-fiction.

I try not to make too many judgements about the books that come out of me. I just write them and carry on. I try not to define myself, or what I do, because any definition is limiting. I like to leave the future open.

What makes you write your stories the way you do?

I have no idea. It's just how they come out of me. Sometimes people ask, "Why did you write this scene, or this character?" I don't have a good answer to questions like this. It's like getting dressed in the morning. If somebody asked you why you put on the clothes you did, you'd make up an answer, but the truth is you probably just got up and put on something you thought looked good for that day. And when I decide a scene, or a character, it's sort of the same. I just write something I think works well.

What types of books do you like to read?

When I was a teenager, I read lots of science fiction. Now, I tend to read non-fiction almost exclusively. I hardly ever read fiction.

Do you base the characters on people you know?

Not usually. Once or twice, I've wanted to pay somebody back so I put them in a book in an unflattering way. But they're usually disguised so that even the person wouldn't know. Sometimes I base characters on people I know about, but haven't met. In Jurassic Park, many people have noticed that the character of Alan Grant was quite similar to a real dinosaur paleontologist named Jack Horner. But I never met Jack until years later, after the movie came out.

Most often I take bits and pieces of real people and combine them into a character that does not correspond to any single person.

How long does it take to write a book?

It's difficult for me to say. Usually, an idea "cooks" in my head for a very long time before I begin to write it. During that preparation time I will make notes and do research. The actual writing can be relatively quick---four to fifteen months---but I could the preparation as part of the work. So in that way, The Great Train Robbery was 3 years. Jurassic Park was 8 years. Disclosure was 5 years. Sphere is an odd example: I started it and wrote part of it, but didn't have a good ending, so I stopped. Twenty years later, I picked it up again and finished it in about two months. So: did it take 20 years, or two months?

Who most influenced your career?

Arthur Conan Doyle, Mark Twain, and Alfred Hitchcock.

What are your working methods?

I get up early, usually at 6 AM, and drive 2 miles to my office, where I begin work in isolation---and much of the year, in darkness. I like my surroundings to be quiet, and I work most easily alone. My assistant comes in later, around 9:30. I continue working until lunch-time. After lunch, I answer mail, or fuss with what I have written. I quit about 3 PM, take some exercise, and go home.

Usually I begin writing each morning by rereading what I wrote the day before, and revising it. I try not to get bogged down in the rewrites, but to move on to the new work each day. I prefer to revise in passes---do it once, then go back another time, do it again. I don't try to make it perfect because I know I am going to come back to it.

As the novel progresses, I work longer and longer hours. Pretty soon I work during the afternoon right up to dinner. Eventually I come back after dinner to work some more in the evening. I usually can finish a draft in a few months.

I experience a lot of doubts when I am working; I never feel confident. About two hundred pages in, I decide the book's no good, and it was a mistake ever to begin it. And I think there is no way to fix it, and I am generally miserable…If I tell my friends about these concerns, they just say, "Oh, I'm sure you'll work it out." This is very irritating.

How do you pronounce your last name?

It sounds like Cry-ten (rhymes with frighten). It's Scottish.

What type of schooling have you had?

I went to public schools in New York; Greenvale Elementary and East Hills Elementary. I went to Roslyn High School. I have a B.A. in Anthropology from Harvard College and a M.D. from Harvard Medical School. I haven't gone back to school since then.

What were you like growing up?

I am the oldest of four children. My father was a journalist and my mother was a homemaker. I grew up in Roslyn, New York, which is a suburb of New York city, on Long Island. Most of my time growing up was painful. I was shy and awkward; at the age of 13 I was 6'7" tall, and I weighed 125 pounds. They made me wear heavy shoes so I wouldn't blow over in the wind. My brothers and sisters were much more gregarious than I was. I was pretty quiet and studious. I played basketball; I was also on the track team. I was my class vice president in my senior year.

I also wrote for the high school paper, and the local town paper, where I covered high school sports (I was also the photographer.) I began writing in this practical journalistic way, and I continued to write in college, for the school paper, the Harvard Crimson. I was very lucky in high school to have teachers who encouraged my writing.

What was you mother like, and did she help you in your life?

My mother was a very dedicated parent and very encouraging to her children; she used to drive me to the next town, Great Neck, because it had a better library, so I could do my school research there. She was very interested in all kinds of art, and would drag her kids to museums and plays at least once a week. We all complained bitterly---not another museum!---but the result was that I'd been exposed to a lot by the time I got out of high school. I felt I had a lot of support for my work and writing in my family, growing up, even though emotionally it was a pretty crazy house with lots of turmoil and yelling and screaming.

Why did you decide not to become a doctor?

There were really two reasons. The first was that my writing in medical school had become successful and I realized I could probably support myself as a writer. The second reason was that medicine really wasn't for me. I didn't like being on call; I didn't like getting called at night. I just wasn't suited for a physician's life.

Where did you get your interest in computers, and did you like them as a kid?

There weren't any computers when I was a kid. But I've had an interest for a long time; I did my college thesis in the 1960s on a computer, which was a huge IBM mainframe. It took a whole building at Harvard and I think it was a 12K machine. About as powerful as a Gameboy now! I got interested in personal computers in the late 70s and started writing on computers back then. So my interest just developed as time went on...

No computers? What else didn't you have as a kid?

Before the age of ten, no TV, no direct dial phones, no jetliners, no credit cards…a lot of stuff didn't exist in my childhood. A great deal has happened during my lifetime!

When you write, do you think of a movie?

It's impossible not to think of it from time to time, but in general I try not to, for several reasons. First, it's possible no movie will be made. Second, the director will decide what parts of the novel will go into the movie, and he may very well cut your favorite parts and add others. So you might as well just write the scenes or characters you want in the book. And third, to worry about practical considerations when you write a chapter (how can they ever film this?) is a waste of time. The experience of movies is that certain apparently simple scenes prove impossible to shoot, and certain extremely difficult scenes turn out to be not so bad, after all.

So in the end, I try to just write a book and not to think about what may happen to it after publication-not only in terms of a movie, but also in terms of what readers will think, what reviewers will say, and so on. Because all that is beyond my control. It happens after the book is published. All I can do is write a book, so I just focus on that.

This information and more can be found at:

http://michaelcrichton.net/foryoungerreaders/index.html

Thank you.

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Michael Crichton 's Friends Comments

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hecatombe	Apr 11 2009 6:37 PM We want to thank you all who voted for us on Cocaine Rocks Contest!!! Your vote made us reach the semi-finals. Your support was waaaay important to us!!! Check our work: www.hecatombe.com.br myspace cocaine profile
Glen Alan HAMILTON	Mar 5 2009 4:56 PM Just finished rereading "State of Fear". You are so truly, truly missed Michael.
Louie Louie	Feb 28 2009 8:17 PM WISH YOU WERE HERE!!
IamEqui	Dec 25 2008 6:57 PM
Minnette Meador	Nov 30 2008 10:28 PM Today only (November 30th), my publisher, Stonegarden, is having a very special "buy books" incentive and offering 50% off the sale of all titles, including Starsight and Starsight II. Now would be a great time to order the books, if you haven't already. So make sure you get over to www. stonegarden. net for a very special sale and get your books for half price today. Have a great holiday season!
Minnette Meador	Nov 25 2008 2:37 AM May the Muse bless you with dreams fulfilled and even more lofty goals... Happy Thanksgiving! Minnette www. minnettemeador. com
HENRY	Nov 22 2008 3:20 PM A truly great storyteller and inspiration to me for the last 15 years or so. He will be missed. R.I.P. Michael
hecatombe	Nov 21 2008 1:51 PM Greetings, we're Hecatombe, and our new cd *Hate 'n Rage* is now available. HEAR IT NOW. The strike has begun. Let us know your opinion. Keep Rockin' Check our work: www. hecatombe. com. br myspace orkut
Philip	Nov 18 2008 3:04 AM HAPPINESS by Michael Crichton A short excerpt 1991 "...If you want to be happy, forget yourself. Forget all of it—how you look, how you feel, how your career is going. Just drop the whole subject of you. We all know this is true because we’ve all had the experience of doing some task—even cleaning the sock drawer or washing the dishes—and for a while, forgetting ourselves entirely. And when we blink our eyes and come back, we realize we've been happy... "
Louie Louie	Nov 18 2008 12:39 AM You will be greatly missed! Your books are what got me in to reading. And the show ER is one of the only shows that can make me cry! god bless you Micheal!
Baby	Nov 17 2008 3:49 PM Ciao Michael! Sei stato una luce nell'oscurità dell'esistenza umana. Ti mando un sorriso ovunque tu sia. Barbara
John ILK	Nov 17 2008 5:28 AM You inspired me to become a writer, Mr. Crichton. Thank you for everything that you gave me. You truly are a hero. -J. Bourscheid
Todd	Nov 15 2008 12:06 PM you will be missed. Rest in Peace sir.
Elcee	Nov 14 2008 4:37 PM Goodbye Michael! You changed my life... Thanks for Ian Malcolm and Alan Grant, for your great books and so on. I wish you a nice dead ... begause everything is different ... on the other side. Herzliches Beileid aus Deutschland!
Mike Honcho	Nov 14 2008 2:48 PM Thank you for all of your work! You will be missed.
Kirby Scott Coe	Nov 14 2008 12:37 PM what a guy--RIP
Michael	Nov 14 2008 4:57 AM I just want to thank you for giving me a reason to read, if it weren't for you I might not have done so well on my book reports in school. I love your books and I'll miss reading new stories. Thanks again for the adventures, you are and forever will be missed. RIP
Future Carrie Ashley	Nov 12 2008 12:53 PM I will miss your wonderful stories. You were my favorite author. Rest in peace
Sasha Gracanin	Nov 11 2008 6:44 AM You will never be forgotten
Tom	Nov 10 2008 10:01 PM You will always be remembered by your fans, friends and family. Rest in peace.
Dark Yagami	Nov 10 2008 7:21 PM Rest in Peace Mr. Crichton. U were one of the shiniest pearl in this world...
(we scare because we care)	Nov 10 2008 3:52 PM RIP, and thanks for all the work..
David Gizzarelli	Nov 9 2008 5:40 PM THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
WILD BOI	Nov 9 2008 8:24 AM ALWAYS BEEN A HUGE FAN OF HIS MOVIES AND NOVELS. REST IN PEACE MR. CRICHTON
Ed	Nov 8 2008 11:05 AM What a brilliant man. Such a lose for all of us. My prayers go out to his family. In school and as a young adult I really didn't like to take the time to read. I was too busy. When I did take the time Michael's books were some of the first that I read and he soon became my favorite author. I had to go back and read everything he wrote. I loved the detail and the enormous amount of research that went into every book.

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