Kurt Vonnegut, RIP
A great American author passed away last night–Kurt Vonnegut died at the age of 84. If you haven’t read any of his work, you’ve missed out on some of the most creative, funny, and touching stories of the last century. Cat’s Cradle blows me away every time I think about it. He was a true genius.
In 1995 when I was looking to purchase a domain name I settled on gokubi.com after reading Vonnegut’s Galapagos, where gokubi was his name for a gadget from the future. It was an instant translator, allowing people of different languages to communicate. For no real reason other than his creativity grabbed me, I grabbed the domain name.
Take this opportunity to read some Vonnegut: Cat’s Cradle, Slaughterhouse Five, and Breakfast of Champions are all wonderful.
The most fitting Vonnegut quote for today is clearly this,
And if I should ever die, God forbid, I hope you will say, “Kurt is up in heaven now.” That’s my favorite joke.
April 12th, 2007 at 8:00 am
“And so it goes…” My good friend from college, Carl Vonnegut, is Kurt’s great-nephew. I saw him before NTC and he let me know that his health wasn’t great, but it was still a surprise.
April 12th, 2007 at 3:55 pm
I always loved the short stories in:
http://www.amazon.com/Welcome-Monkey-House-Kurt-Vonnegut/dp/0385333501/ref=pd_sim_b_4/103-2760115-3784617
April 16th, 2007 at 9:39 am
Right! Of course that’s what gokubi is!!! It’s been on the tip of my tongue since I first found this site. That was a wonderful book. It all comes together now.
May 16th, 2007 at 7:03 pm
I had a friend who once spoke to Kurt Vonnegut at an Event of some kind.
Kurt Vonnegut: “Where’s the punch?”
My Friend: “It’s over there”
Priceless.