On this historic day in America, I felt pulled in another direction when I heard the sad news that Michael Crichton, creator of "ER," author of Jurassic Park and many other novels--and indeed, the creator of the modern techno-thriller--died of cancer at the age of 66.    

    He was such a major contributor to the entertainment we take for granted today.                                                                                                 

I still remember the day I began reading the rough manuscript of Jurassic Park when it arrived in our offices.  (I was not yet with Reader's Digest magazine at that time.  I was a book editor of both fiction and nonfiction.)  The year was 1990.  The publisher was Knopf.  There was, of course, no finished book yet, no film yet, no X-box game yet or any other such spinoff.  But there was a manuscript, there was a planned first print of 150,000 copies, which was then and is still today a hefty first print, and there was, more than anything, a crackling good story on the page about a dinosaur theme park, where not just entertainment for the masses but treachery, ego, greed, chaos, drama and destruction prevailed.  (And of course, there was an amazing conclusion.)  I remember strong characters and a wild plot line and that the pages kept turning.  And later, I remember how my teenage stepson devoured the novel.  

    As the world knows by now, Steven Spielberg bought the film rights to Crichton's novel and turned it into a film that still scares kids today.  

    Crichton was a Harvard Medical School graduate and the author of many other novels besides Jurassic Park, including The Great Train Robbery, The Andromeda Strain, Terminal Man, Airframe and Disclosure (many of these were chosen by the iconic Reader's Digest Condensed Books program, which is still going strong today as Select Editions. Click here for more information on this series' current offerings.)  And of course, Crichton created one of TV's top hospital dramas, "ER," which was based on his own real-life experiences working in an emergency room.  Over the years we have written about Crichton in RD or referenced his books.  Check out some of our earlier coverage of his life and career, particularly in a story we ran last year called "Docs in the Box" (March 2007), about the art and the challenge of bringing medical dramas to the small screen.

    What is clear from this man's body of work:  Good suspense does not die.  It lives on, entertaining new generations.  Compelling medical or technical information can (and will) be consumed within the context of a good story.  Above all, if you can get readers to turn those pages--something Crichton knew how to do--you've got something.  You've got an audience.  Today, that's no small accomplishment.