Clarke Arthur C. (1917)
Arthur Clarke, since 1956, Clarke has resided in Sri Lanka as the island
nation's sole honorary citizen, engaging in underwater exploration and
participating in the management of a diving tour company, Underwater Safaris.
However, he is most familiar to global audiences as a futurist and advocate of
technology and interplanetary exploration.
With Walter Cronkite, who would become a lifelong friend, he co-anchored CBS
television coverage of the launches of Apollo 11, 12 and 15. Continuing his
career in television, Clarke has hosted such investigative programs as "Arthur
C. Clarke’s Mysterious World", "World of Strange Powers" and "Mysterious
Universe".
Among his many honors, Clarke is one of only 17 writers ever named a Science
Fiction Grand Master. In addition, he has received the UNESCO Kalinga Award for
advancing interest in science, as well as nominations for both an Academy Award
nomination, for 2001 (shared with Stanley Kubrick), and a Nobel Peace Prize, for
laying the conceptual groundwork for the creation of orbital communications
satellites.
He has served as a fellow at alma mater King’s College and serves to this day as
chancellor of both the University of Moratuwa in Sri Lanka and International
Space University.
He has received both the Order of the British Empire (promoted to Commander of
the British Empire in 1998) and the Vidya Jyothi, the highest honor bestowed by
the Sri Lankan government.
He is most likely the only person to both appear on two Sri Lankan stamps --
commemorating the 50th anniversary of telecommunications in that country -- and
to have an asteroid named in his honor.
On a more personal level, luminaries ranging from Carl Sagan, Alexei Leonov and
Willy Ley to Wernher von Braun, Rupert Murdoch and Isaac Asimov have called
Clarke friend.
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