Author Michael Crichton dies at 66

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27557143/

U.S. best-selling author Michael Crichton, who wrote such novels as "The Andromeda Strain" and "Jurassic Park," and created the popular TV drama "ER," has died at 66, his family said Wednesday.

Crichton, a medical doctor turned novelist whose books have sold more than 150 million copies worldwide, died "unexpectedly" Tuesday in Los Angeles after a private battle with cancer, his family said.

Wow, that was totally unexpected. I think I still have my old copy of Jurassic Park around here somewhere. I remember reading The Lost World after I saw the movie and was completely amazed and disappointed by how much they changed the book for the movie (not the first time I've had that realization...). And of course the Jurassic Park movie was awesome.