Douglas Adams

Douglas Noël Adams (Cambridge, England, 11 March 1952 – Santa Barbara, California, 11 May 2001) was an English author, humourist, and screenwriter. He wrote *The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,* which originated in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy, before developing into a "trilogy" of five books that sold more than 14 million copies in his lifetime. He also adapted it into a 1981 television series, a 1984 video game and a posthumously-released 2005 feature film. Douglas died unexpectedly of a sudden heart attack at the age of 49.