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Polish science fiction writer Lem dies at 84

By Wire services
Published March 28, 2006

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Stanislaw Lem, a popular science fiction writer whose novel Solaris was filmed twice, died Monday (March 27, 2006) in his native Poland, his secretary said. He was 84.

Mr. Lem died in a Krakow hospital from heart failure "connected to his old age," Wojciech Zemek told the Associated Press. He gave no other details.

Mr. Lem was one of the most popular science fiction authors of recent decades to write in a language other than English, and his works were translated from Polish into more than 40 other languages. His books have sold 27-million copies.

His best-known work, Solaris, was adapted into films by director Andrei Tarkovsky in 1972 and by Steven Soderbergh in 2002. Set on a spaceship above a fictional planet, a psychologist meets the likeness of a long-dead lover as he and the crew grapple with suppressed memories of lost loves.

Mr. Lem's first important novel, Hospital of the Transfiguration, was censored by communist authorities for eight years before its release in 1956 amid a thaw after the death of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

Other works include The Invincible, The Cyberiad, His Master's Voice, The Star Diaries, The Futurological Congress and Tales of Prix the Pilot.

Mr. Lem wrote about new scientific discoveries and the evolution of man and technology, said Tomasz Fialkowski, co-author of a book of interviews with Lem. Mr. Lem also foresaw many new technologies, including virtual reality, Fialkowski said.

Mr. Lem was born into a Polish Jewish family on Sept. 21, 1921, in Lviv, then a Polish city but now part of Ukraine. His father was a doctor and he initially appeared set to follow in that path, taking up medical studies in Lviv before World War II. After surviving the Nazi occupation, in part thanks to forged documents that concealed his Jewish background, Mr. Lem continued his medical studies in Krakow. Soon afterward, however, he took up writing science fiction.

Dan Curtis, a producer and director who brought the epic miniseries The Winds of War and War and Remembrance to television and created the offbeat soap opera Dark Shadows, died Monday (March 27, 2006). He was 78. Mr. Curtis, diagnosed with a brain tumor four months ago, died at his Brentwood, Calif., area home.

Scarlett Johansson tops a lovely list of the "100 Sexiest Women in the World," in a poll of readers by FHM magazine.

"One of the best things for a woman to hear is that she is sexy," the 21-year-old actor, star of Match Point and Lost in Translation, said in a statement. "I'd like to thank FHM's readers for the huge compliment."

Angelina Jolie is No. 2 on the list, followed by Jessica Alba, Jessica Simpson, Keira Knightley, Halle Berry, Jenny McCarthy, Maria Sharapova, Carmen Electra and Teri Hatcher.

[Last modified March 28, 2006, 10:56:50]