We may have won the presidential race, but we lost a great author. According to CNN, which I got wind of through our friends over at The Movie Blog -

Michael Crichton, who helped create the TV show “ER” and wrote the best-sellers “Jurassic Park,” “The Andromeda Strain,” “Sphere” and “Rising Sun,” died in Los Angeles on Tuesday, his public relations firm said in a news release.

He “died unexpectedly,” the release said, “after a courageous and private battle against cancer.”

He was 66.

The man who created the genius plot behind one of the greatest books and one of my top movies Jurassic Park has passed on. The man brought dinosaurs back to life for crying out loud. Even if only in our minds. Steven Speilberg did him justice and we should be happy to have a visualization of such a great novel. I first read Jurassic Park in grade school and have since ready many of his books (other favorites include Lost World, Timeline, Congo and Prey). He was a master of storytelling and will surely be missed.