Yohan Ferreira's blog

Sir Arthur C. Clarke, world-renowned science fiction author, oscar-nominated screen writer, inventor of the communications satellite and visionary, passed away at the age of 90 on 19th March 2008.

The funeral was held amid a large gathering of friends, family and fans on Saturday, 22nd March 2008 at the General Cemetery in Colombo 8, Sri Lanka. It was attended by SGAC member Natasha Akolawala and SGAC Co-National Points of Contact for Sri Lanka, Thiwanka Jayasiri and Yohan Ferreira.

MEDIA STATEMENT ISSUED ON 21 March 2008

THE OFFICE OF SIR ARTHUR C CLARKE
25, Barnes Place,
Colombo 7,
Sri Lanka.

Sir Arthur C Clarke's funeral on March 22

Colombo, Sri Lanka: The funeral of Sir Arthur C Clarke will be held at the General Cemetery in Colombo on Saturday, 22 March, at 3.30 pm.

In keeping with Sir Arthur's wishes, the entire funeral will be a low key, secular event with no religious rites, decorations or speeches.

However, both the funeral house and the funeral are open to the public.

Sir Arthur's remains were brought to his residence at No. 25, Barnes Place, Colombo 7 at 7:30 p.m. last night. According to his wishes, a private funeral will be held at the General Cemetery in Colombo 8, Sri Lanka on Saturday, 22nd March 2008.

His passing away is the lead news story here since yesterday. Today's 'Daily News' national newspaper carries the headline 'Death of a visionary' (http://www.dailynews.lk) along with condolence messages from the Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and the U.S. Embassy in Sri Lanka: http://www.dailynews.lk/2008/03/20/news01.asp

Also:

19 March 2008

Nalaka Gunawardene
Spokesperson,
Office of Sir Arthur C Clarke,
Colombo,
Sri Lanka.

MEDIA RELEASE

SIR ARTHUR C. CLARKE DIES AGED 90

COLOMBO, SRI LANKA - Science fiction author and inventor of the communications satellite Sir Arthur C Clarke passed away today after a brief illness. He was 90 years old.

He died at Colombo's Apollo Hospital in the early hours of March 19 (Sri Lanka time) from respiratory complications.

He was also suffering from the Post Polio Syndrome since the early 1990s, which confined him to a wheelchair for the past decade.

Applications are being called from Sri Lankan students (under 20 years of age as of 1st August 2008) for the 2nd National Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad contest to be held on 29th March 2008. Closing date for entries is 15th March 2008. Full details at: http://www.ip-sl.org/astro/astro.html

Greetings from Sri Lanka! :-)

Our country's most famous guest resident, Sir Arthur C. Clarke, celebrated his 90th birthday yesterday.

The Philatelic Bureau of the Department of Posts, Sri Lanka, issued a set of 16 colourful Definitive stamps featuring 16 constellations in the sky. The stamps were issued at a ceremony held at Postal Headquarters, Colombo 10 on 9th October 2007.

The new series of definitive postage stamps are in the denominations of .50 cts., Rs.1/-, Rs.2/-, Rs.3/-, Rs.4/-, Rs.4.50/-, Rs.5/-, Rs.10/-, Rs.12/-, Rs.15/-, Rs.20/-, Rs.25/-, Rs.30/-, Rs.35/-, Rs.40/- and Rs.45/-. 214,000,000 stamps in total have been printed as the initial quantity.

The Royal College Astronomical Society celebrated its 40th anniversary together with the 50th anniversary of the dawning of the Space Age recently. The annual astronomical workshop was held at Navarangahala on Monday, 12th November 2007 with the participation of over 280 school students and teachers from around 28 schools in Sri Lanka.