Douglas Adams 62nd Birthday : two events in London !

Today tuesday 11th March, we're celebrating Douglas Adams 62nd Birthday and there are two events happening at the same time in London.



First, the Highgate Cemetery where Douglas Adams is burried is organizing a special event called "Douglas Adams: A Conversation at the End of the Universe".

Special guests Lalla Ward and Richard Dawkins will share memories of Douglas Adams. As you may know Lalla Ward is a former Doctor Who companion and played with Tom Baker in Douglas Adams episodes "City of death" and "Shada".

Richard Dawkins, was a good friend of Douglas Adams. They shared a same views of live and also their atheism. evolutionary biologist and author of books such as "The Selfish Gene" and "The God Delusion". They met after Richard wrote Douglas the only fan letter he ever wrote, and Douglas replied with a fan letter of his own.

Lalla and Richard met at a party for Douglas’ 40th birthday in 1992 and were married later the same year. The event is sold out, but I really hope that we'll get pictures and reports from the evening.

More infos here : http://highgatecemetery.org/events


 

The Second event of the day is the annual Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture that will take at the Royal Geographical Society.

This year's lecture will explore a theme close to the hearts of many of Douglas' fans : "We will be exploring science in fiction, taking a closer look at two popular fictional worlds - Harry Potter and the Simpsons - and exploring the science within".

This year's speakers will be Roger Highfield and Simon Singh.

More infos here : http://www.savetherhino.org/events/798_douglas_adams_memorial_lecture

The Ninth Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture

On Thursday 10 March 2011, Professor Brian Cox will give the Ninth Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture at The Royal Geographical Society.

Brian Cox is a physicist but also a popular television presenter & radio broadcaster due to his ability to present science in an engaging manner.

As you probably already know "since 2003, Save the Rhino has held an annual Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture around the time of his birthday to raise money for rhino conservation projects, as well as tackling environmental crime and the trade in wildlife parts."

You can have more details on the event, and buy tickets on Save the Rhino International website here

12th March = Incredible 6th Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture with the 30th anniversary of the first broadcast of H2G2 radio series

The Sixth Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture (Steven Pinker: “The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature”) will be followed by an incredible event. To mark the 30th anniversary of the first broadcast of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" the original cast will be doing a very special 20 minute script reading following the lecture.

Among the original cast, here are the actors who should be here : Simon Jones (Arthur), Geoffrey McGivern (Ford), Mark Wing Davey (Zaphod), Susan Sheridan (Trillian), Roger Gregg (Eddie), Stephen Moore (Marvin).... and a very special guest as The Voice of the book (could it be Stephen Fry???).

The event will take place Wednesday 12 March 2008 at 7.30pm (doors open at 6.30pm), Royal Geographical Society, South Kensington, London

you can read more about the event and make reservations on Save the Rhino's website.

I don't know about you, but I won't miss this event for all the money in the world.

Fifth Douglas Adams Memorial lecture on 15th March 2007

Gareth Suddes, from the excellent "Another chance to see" blog, had the new first.

"Details have been announced for the Fifth Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture. The presentation will be made by Dr Richard Leakey and is entitled "Wildlife management in East Africa – Is there a future?".

"Richard Leakey is a paleontologist, archaeologist, conservationist an author of several books including the acclaimed wildlife management book Wildlife Wars: My Battle to Save Kenya's Elephants. In this talk Dr Leakey will draw on his own experiences in Kenya as founder and Director of the Kenya Wildlife Service and as the Head of Kenya's Civil Service to reflect on the successes, current problems and future challenges facing wildlife management in East Africa. "

The lecture will take place at 7.30pm on Thursday 15 March 2007 at the Royal Geographic Society, 1 Kensington Gore, London SW7. Tickets will be £12, with a pay bar before and after the Lecture, and they are available now from www.savetherhino.org or Zoe at Save the Rhino, Email: zoe_AT_savetherhino.org."

Full details here

Douglas Adams memorial lecture will occur the 23th March

It's very good news for everybody. Professor Robert Winston will be the the guest for the fourth Douglas Adams memorial lecture : "Is the human an endangered species?".
Save the Rhino International and the Environmental Investigation Agency are co-hosting the Fourth Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture with a talk by Professor Robert Winston, on Thursday 23 March at the Royal Geographic Society in London SW7. In this talk, he will combine some of the apparently threatening aspects of technology and the trust, or lack of it, in science.

Lord Winston is one of the country’s best-known scientists. As Professor of Fertility Studies at Imperial College, University of London, and Director of NHS Research and Development and Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at Hammersmith Hospital, he has made advances in fertility medicine and been a leading voice in the debate on genetic engineering. His television series, including Your Life in Their Hands, Making Babies, The Human Body and The Human Mind and have made him a household name across Britain. He became a life peer in 1995.

The lecture is in aid of Save the Rhino International and the Environmental Investigation Agency, two charities supported by Douglas Adams. Douglas developed his deep-seated interest in wildlife conservation during a 1985 visit to Madagascar, which eventually resulted in a book (Last Chance to See) about the plight of species facing extinction. Douglas Adams died unexpectedly in 2001 at the age of 49. These Memorial Lectures continue to explore the themes in which Douglas was so interested.

Notes:
The lecture will take place at 7.30pm on Thursday 23 March 2006 at the Royal Geographic Society, 1 Kensington Gore, London SW7. Tickets @ £10, with a pay bar before and after the Lecture, are available from www.savetherhino.org or Zoe at Save the Rhino, E: zoe@savetherhino.org.
Professor Winston’s recent books include: The Story of God (hardback, October 2005, Bantam Press, RRP £18.99); Body: An Amazing Tour of Human Anatomy (hardback, October 2005, Dorling Kindersley, RRP £12.99); Child of our Time (paperback, January 2005, Bantam Press, RRP £14.99); The Human Mind: And how to make the most of it (paperback, October 2004, Bantam Press, RRP £8.99); What Makes Me, Me? (hardback, July 2004, Dorling Kindersley, RRP £9.99); and Human Instinct (paperback, September 2003, Bantam Press, RRP £8.99). He is the editor of Human (hardback, September 2005, Dorling Kindersley, RRP £20)

Douglas Adams created all the various and contradictory manifestations of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: radio, novels, TV, film, computer games, stage adaptations, comic book and bath towel. For more information about Douglas Adams and his creations, please visit www.douglasadams.com For a tribute to Douglas by Save the Rhino’s Founder Director, David Stirling, read this.
The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) is an international campaigning organisation committed to investigating and exposing environmental crime. Since 1984, EIA has used pioneering investigative techniques all over the world to expose the impact of environmental crime and to seek lasting solutions. More info here.

Save the Rhino International works to conserve genetically viable populations of critically endangered rhinoceros species in the wild. We do this by fundraising for and making grants to rhino- and community-based conservation projects in Africa and Asia. More info at Save The Rhino official website.
Link to SRI shop page on which it gives details of the 4th Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture

Mark Carwadine speaks at the Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture

I's now the third time that a memorial lecture will occur at the Royal Institution in London. The 10th March, Mark Carwardine, co-author of Last Chance to see and famous zoologist, will give a talk about about his travels around the world and will describe some of his experiences and encounters with wild animals and even wilder people around the world – including some hilarious behind-the-scenes stories from Last Chance to See. And, inevitably, he has a thing or two to say about the state of the world.
You can buy tickets online (£12 or £20) thanks to Save the Rhino. After the lecture, there will be an auction of very rare and valuable Douglas Adams items.

Once again all profits from the lecture and fundraising auction will be split between Save the Rhino International and the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, the two charities of which Douglas was patron.