I just read this and it hit me like a freight train…

http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2008/11/sci-fi-giant-mi.html

I can't believe he's gone.  I had no idea he was struggling with cancer.  I'm actually in tears right now.  Michael Crichton changed me from just a casual reader to a lover of the written word.  The first novel I ever read was The Great Train Robbery.  I went through 3 different copies of Jurassic Park...literally wore the first two out.  I can't believe he's gone.  He will surely be missed.

That is a shock. No idea he was sick. It says he was battling cancer privately.

Sad day indeed.

Oh man.  I loved his books… staple for me in college. 

Same here. This is terrible. The Great Train Robbery is one of my all time favorites.

Yeah, that's a fuckin' bummer. Especially given how young he was.

I read "The Andromeda Strain" when I was 11, and have always been a fan of his other stuff. I think my favorite novel, though, was "Eaters of the Dead" -- which they (sort of) made into "The Thirteenth Warrior."

wow, I had no idea. very sad.