It seems that every day is celebrating or commemorating something but today is one I care about. It’s International Towel Day (May 25th) when the life and work of Douglas Adams is celebrated, bizarrely, by carrying a towel with you all day. It’s also 25 years since he passed away far too early but left behind his mark in literature, television, radio and interactive fiction.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was the first ever book I bought with my own pocket money (back in 1979 and I still have that same original first edition) and I was immediately hooked. Douglas Adams is also responsible for getting me into interactive fiction in 1984 with his collaboration with Infocom. He probably has a lot to answer for in my interests and sense of humour.
Certainly, to me, he really was one hoopy frood that really knew where his towel was.
Thanks for mentioning this. Douglas Adams surely was a giant. He will forever be associated with The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. But he has written more, for example some Doctor Who episodes and IF!
So, any idea why today and not on his birthday, death day, 2/11(the 42nd day of the year) or 4/2?
Sure, today is the last day of the year where the day number is the square of the month number, and that feels like something worthy of consideration if one was making the daily celebration of maths calendar, but I’m not aware of any association between the date and his work.
Anyways, I read borrowed paperbacks of the first 4 Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy novels in middle or highschool and bought and read the hardcover Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide Monibus at some point between graduating highschool and when my family was forced out of my childhood home because the mortgage company decided to triple the monthly payments. Saw the movie in theatres and enjoyed it. Bought and binged the Primary through Quinttessential phases of the Radio Drama on CD at some point after going blind and before money got too tight for buying audiobooks on Audio CD. Never seen the television show and never got off Earth in the game, though I credit the game for teaching me what an analgesic is. 6*9 = 42 in base 13 might be my favorite unintentional maths joke ever… And despite Adams insisting “No one makes jokes in base 13” when this was pointed out to him, I have to wonder if anyone has made an IF game filled with maths puzzles in unusual bases… and now I wonder if the q door in 999:_Nine_Hours,_Nine_Persons,_Nine_Doors was inspired by that… Base 27 certainly counts as an unusual base.
My wife and I once had a license plate that said “q52”, which is a non-standard but legitimate way to write 42 in base 8. Of course, getting 42 on a license plate is impossible, since it either belongs to a state official or someone else snatched it up before you.
Excellent question on why that particular date. Douglas Adams died on 11th May, 2001. Fans organized a global day of remembrance two weeks later on 25th May, 2001. That date has stuck ever since, particularly as it is now more of a celebration of his life and work rather than a remembrance of his death.