Today is an annual tribute to the life and work of Douglas Adams, generally celebrated by fans around the universe by carrying a towel in his honour. I, for one, will be carrying a towel with me all day today. According to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, a towel is “about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have.”
As most Hitchhiker’s fans know, the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything is “42.”
When Adams was asked how he came up with the number, he said, it is “a completely ordinary number, a number not just divisible by two but also six and seven. In fact it’s the sort of number that you could, without any fear, introduce to your parents.”
I love Adams’s humor and the whole series of Hitchhiker’s books. Right now, a little humor goes a long way. Thank you, Douglas Adams, for making me smile today. . -s
About Shelly Palmer
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with technology, media and marketing. Named he covers tech and business for , is a regular commentator on CNN and writes a popular . He's a , and the creator of the popular, free online course, . Follow or visit .
