The World Future Society Marks t

Edward Cornish Remembers Fellow WFS Member and Futurist, Arthur C. Clarke

Sir Arthur C. Clarke played a key role in the founding of the World Future Society and was a member of the Society's Global Advisory Council at the time of his death.

During the 1960s, I happened to read his remarkable book Profiles of the Future, which carefully assessed the possibilities and impossibilities of the human future. I noticed that he had dedicated this book to his “colleagues in the Institute of Twenty-first Century Studies.”

I wrote Clarke inquiring about the Institute, since I wanted to make contact with other people interested in the future. Clarke responded that there was no such Institute in reality. He was simply referring to his colleagues who shared his interest in the future.

His kind letter got me thinking about the possibility of establishing an association for people interested in the future, and that led about a year later to the founding of the World Future Society in October 1966.

The first regular issue of the Society's magazine, THE FUTURIST (January-February 1967), featured Clarke's book Profiles of the Future, and by the end of 1967, the Society was selling not only that Profiles but other books about the future to Society members. Clarke turned out to be the Society's best customer. His books had to be carefully shipped half way around the world to his home in Colombo, Sri Lanka, but the Society's staff was delighted to provide him with this service.

When the Society held its first conference in 1971, Clarke told me he couldn't be listed on the program due to an agreement with his lecture agency. But he came unannounced and participated actively in the conference.

Clarke maintained a lively interest in the Society through the rest of his life. He was a good friend and an inspiration to us all.

--Edward Cornish, founder of the World Future Society

The World Future Society marks the passing of Sir Arthur C. Clarke Science Fiction Writer, WFS Member December 16, 1917--March 19, 2008 Video by TVE Asia Pacific, http://www.tveap.org. YouTube link:
	"Superman" of Futurism, Sir Arthur C. Clarke, dies at age 90 The Foundation named for him reports with quiet dignity on March 19: "After a prolific and esteemed career, Sir Arthur has passed away in Sri Lanka." Best known as the author of the short story on which the film 2001: A Space Odyssey was based, Sir Arthur C. Clarke was both an inspired writer and a source of inspiration for others. In a poll of futurists for the Encyclopedia of the Future (Macmillan, 1996), Sir Arthur C. Clarke was ranked sixth of the 100 most influential futurists in history--ahead of Jules Verne and Isaac Newton. He was an early supporter of the World Future Society, participating in its first conference, purchasing books about the future from the Society's specialty bookstore, and ultimately joining its Global Advisory Council. Society founder Edward Cornish noted in his series on the Society's founding that "Arthur C. Clarke not only joined but sent in a membership for Stanley Kubrick, the producer/director of 2001: A Space Odyssey." Described as a "prophet" for the space age for his inspiring stories and meticulous scientific perspective, Clarke was one of very few science-fiction writers equally gifted on both the science side and the fiction side of the genre. He was also modest; he demonstrated a graceful integrity when he wrote a letter to the editor to THE FUTURIST to correct another author, who had inadvertently credited him with "inventing" the solar sail--a sun-powered spacecraft he described in his story "Sunjammer." Clarke could justifiably be described as the Superman of futurism, and not just for his longevity against extreme physical challenges. According to newspaper obituaries, he had suffered from post-polio syndrome for the past two decades, succumbing to respiratory ailments. But his forward-looking spirit led him to "predict" in his 1999 book Greetings, Carbon-Based Bipeds! that he would celebrate his one-hundredth birthday as a space tourist, one of the first guests in the Hilton Orbiter. In that regard, his goal-driven life calls to mind that of Superman star Christopher Reeve, who set a goal to walk again by age 50 after the riding accident that paralyzed him. --Cynthia G. Wagner Managing Editor, THE FUTURIST	Edward Cornish Remembers Fellow WFS Member and Futurist, Arthur C. Clarke Sir Arthur C. Clarke played a key role in the founding of the World Future Society and was a member of the Society's Global Advisory Council at the time of his death. During the 1960s, I happened to read his remarkable book Profiles of the Future, which carefully assessed the possibilities and impossibilities of the human future. I noticed that he had dedicated this book to his “colleagues in the Institute of Twenty-first Century Studies.” I wrote Clarke inquiring about the Institute, since I wanted to make contact with other people interested in the future. Clarke responded that there was no such Institute in reality. He was simply referring to his colleagues who shared his interest in the future. His kind letter got me thinking about the possibility of establishing an association for people interested in the future, and that led about a year later to the founding of the World Future Society in October 1966. The first regular issue of the Society's magazine, THE FUTURIST (January-February 1967), featured Clarke's book Profiles of the Future, and by the end of 1967, the Society was selling not only that Profiles but other books about the future to Society members. Clarke turned out to be the Society's best customer. His books had to be carefully shipped half way around the world to his home in Colombo, Sri Lanka, but the Society's staff was delighted to provide him with this service. When the Society held its first conference in 1971, Clarke told me he couldn't be listed on the program due to an agreement with his lecture agency. But he came unannounced and participated actively in the conference. Clarke maintained a lively interest in the Society through the rest of his life. He was a good friend and an inspiration to us all. --Edward Cornish, founder of the World Future Society