Sri Lanka gives sci-fi legend Clarke highest award

COLOMBO (Reuters) – Sri Lanka awarded long-term resident and British science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke its highest civilian award on Monday for his contributions to science and technology and his commitment to his adopted country.

Born in England in 1917, Clarke first came to the island in the 1950s for diving and said he became a resident after he “fell in love with the place.” Presidential aide Eric Fernando said it was very unusual for a foreigner to receive the award.

“He is an honorary citizen of Sri Lanka,” Fernando said before the ceremony, presided over by outgoing President Chandrika Kumaratunga. “He is receiving it because of what he has achieved globally in the field of science and technology.”

The only other person to receive the Sri Lankabhimanya award on Monday was slain foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, killed in August by suspected Tamil Tiger rebel snipers.

One of the first to suggest the use of satellites orbiting the earth for communications, Clarke has written more than 80 books, including “2001: A Space Odyssey” and 500 short stories and articles.

In the 1940s he forecast that man would reach the moon by the year 2000, an idea experts dismissed as rubbish. When Neil Armstrong landed in 1969, the United States said Clarke “provided the essential intellectual drive that led us to the moon.”

Source: Reuters