Offbeat News: May 25 Declared "Towel Day"

May 25 has been unofficially declared "Towel Day" as a memorial to Douglas Adams. Author, Douglas Adams, is best known for his trilogy: "Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy", "The Restaurant at The End of The Universe", "Life, The Universe and Everything Else", "So Long, and Thanks for All The Fish", concluding with "Mostly Harmless". That is five books, you say. Good you can count. The story began on an ordinary day when Arthur Dent was mysteriously saved at the moment earth was destroyed to make way for an Intergalactic superhighway. With the help of his earth/alien friend, Ford Perfect, he began hitchhiking around the galaxy. The trilogy, which began as a BBC radio broadcast, is not your typical somber Science Fiction. British born Adams has a wacky sense of humor. You either get it or you do not and his fans get it.

Mr. Adams was born March 11, 1952 in Cambridge, England. He died due to a sudden heart attack at age 49 on May 11, 2001 while working out in a gym in California. At least two bereaved fans simultaneously decided a tribute was in order. May 25 was declared "Towel Day". Word was spread how else, via the Internet. Chris Campbell of System Toolbox created "Towel Day.org" in the United States. Loyal fans joined in by agreeing to carry a towel around with them the entire day. Why a towel? Because "A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have.", and "More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value".