Our writings and performances:
Sir Arthur C. Clarke's standard REPLY to questions
NOTE FROM John C. Sherwood:
The following was received June 8, 2002, and we urge all of Sir Arthur's potential correspondents to heed his wishes:
Dear friend,
Help - I'm suffering from Information Overload!
I have tried to drink from Niagara and am in danger of drowning.
Over the past few years, I've been gradually overwhelmed by the amount of information that arrives in the mail, through television and radio, and
increasingly by fax and email. All sorting methods provide only temporary
relief: they are like building new roads to ease the traffic - very
quickly, more vehicles turn up and conditions are even worse.
I have therefore gone into emergency mode, and am unplugging myself from every network and mailing list. I had valued and welcomed your occasional circulars, alerts, jokes or updates, but am no longer able to cope. I must therefore ask you to please stop sending me any emails, faxes or letters with general information on space, astronomy, science fiction, oceanography or any other areas in which you know I am interested. I directly access sufficient information in all these fields to keep myself updated, at a pace and quantity I can cope with.
The only exceptions to the above rule are items in obscure sources that specifically mention me, and which require action on my part.
I hope you will understand and cooperate with me on what has become a
survival strategy!
All good wishes,
Sir Arthur C Clarke
PS: You are welcome to copy or adapt this letter in your own defense!
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Sir Arthur's agent
Quotation permissions, etc., may be obtained through Sir Arthur's agent.
To view Sir Arthur's client page at David Higham Associates, London,
CLICK HERE
David Higham Associates, 5-8 Lower John Street, Golden Square, London, WIR 4HA,(T: (0)171 437 7778; Fx -1072).
(Some of this contact information for David Higham Associates is repeated below.)
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Sir Arthur's earlier STANDARD REPLY:
NOTE FROM John C. Sherwood: For several decades,
Sir Arthur C. Clarke has used a variety of stock replies to
questions received from fans and others. This *current*
version was provided by Sir Arthur via e-mail in early
November 2000, as our links pages have resulted in a number
of e-mails requesting how to contact Sir Arthur's agent,
etc. We're grateful to Sir Arthur for taking pity on us,
because even though we're not in his employ we've ended up
fielding a surprising number of unexpected inquiries on his
behalf. The file below should help those who need some
answers -- and, even if you don't mean to do any business
with Sir Arthur, you still may find this information
informative, helpful or amusing. [Before undertaking a message to Sir Arthur, *please* observe his request printed at the top of this page.]
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Dear Sir/Ms,
I regret that Post-Polio Syndrome and an ever-increasing
mail-load now make it impossible for me to acknowledge
letters personally, or to autograph books etc. However, I
hope that this reply form answers your queries, and I
appreciate your interest in my work.
Address: 25, Barnes Place, Colombo 7, Sri Lanka.
Phones: (941) -694255, -699757 Fax: -698730.
U.K: Rocket Publishing Company, Dene Court, Bishop's
Lydeard, TA4 3LT (T:-(O)1823-432-671, -2001 Fx:
-083).
The Arthur Clarke Foundation of the United States:
(Executive Director: F.C Durant) POB 42307, Washington, DC
20015)
Biographies: ODYSSEY, by Neil McAleer (Gollancz;
Contemporary Books)
and my ASTOUNDING DAYS and ASCENT TO ORBIT.
Also BRITTANICA, WHO'S WHO, CONTEMPORARY NOVELISTS,
CONTEMPORARY AUTHORS, etc.
Bibliography: Now 8O+ books. See above, also
AGAINST THE NIGHT, THE STARS (J. Hollow; Harcourt,
Brace Jovanovich) and ARTHUR C CLARKE (David N Samuelson;
G.K. Hall).
Rights: All US rights are handled by
Scovil, Chichak, Galen Inc,
381 Park Ave S,
New York, NY10016
(T: 679-8686: Fx-6710);
UK by
David Higham Associates,
5-8 Lower John Street,
Golden Square,
London, WIR 4HA,
(T: (0)171 437 7778; Fx -1072).
Space: There are now hundreds of books on this, and many organisations dealing with it, e.g. British Interplanetary Society (27 S. Lambeth Rd., London, SW8 1SZ); AIAA (370 L'Enfant Promenade SW, Washington DC, 20024); National Space Society (600, Pennsylvania Ave SE, #201, Washington, D.C. 20003-4316); Planetary Society (65 N. Catalina Ave., Pasadena, CA 91106); International Space University (Suite 4M-400, 3400 International Drive, Washington DC 20008-3098)
Manuscript: UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES will I comment
on MSS
or story ideas. And to all those enthusiasts who send me
pet theories, inventions, and plans for saving the world -
sorry, but I don't have the time or qualifications to
discuss them.
Advice to Authors: Read at least one book a day,
and write as much as you can. Study the memoirs of authors who
interest you. (e.g. Somerset Maugham's A WRITER'S
NOTEBOOKS.) Correspondence courses, writer's schools, etc.,
are useful - but all the authors I know were self-taught.
There is no substitute for living; as Hemingway wisely
remarked, writing is not a full-time occupation.
2001-2010-2061-3001 queries. Please re-read the
quartette, plus THE LOST WORLDS OF 2OO1 and THE ODYSSEY
FILE.
Requests for help: If I responded to all the
appeals I get for literary, financial, educational, etc.
assistance I would have no time (or money) for anything
else. It is often difficult to ignore genuine and
deserving cases, but I salve my conscience with the thought
that I now directly support about 5O people.
The University of Moratuwa; the Arthur
Clarke Centre. All correspondence to the
Vice-Chancellor or the Director, please - at Katubedde, Moratuwa, Sri Lanka - not to me! Thank you...
FILE: REPLY
Sir Arthur Clarke, CBE (v 1999 Feb 11)
Chancellor, University of Moratuwa,
Chancellor, International Space University
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