The Salmon of Doubt

He laughed at himself with equal good humour. At, for example, his epic bouts of writer’s block (“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by”) when, according to legend, his publisher and book agent would lock him in a hotel room, with no telephone and nothing to do but write, releasing him only for supervised walks. If his enthusiasm ran away with him and he advanced a biological theory too eccentric for my professional scepticism to let pass, his mien at my dismissal of it would always be more humorously self-mocking than genuinely crestfallen. And he would have another go.

Science has lost a friend, literature has lost a luminary, the mountain gorilla and the black rhino have lost a gallant defender (he once climbed Kilimanjaro in a rhino suit to raise money to fight the cretinous trade in rhino horn), Apple Computers has lost its most eloquent apologist. And I have lost an irreplaceable intellectual companion and one of the kindest and funniest men I ever met. The day Douglas died, I officially received a happy piece of news, which would have delighted him. I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone during the weeks I have secretly known about it, and now that I am allowed to, it is too late. The sun is shining, life must go on, seize the day and all those cliches. We shall plant a tree this very day: a Douglas fir, tall, upright, evergreen. It is the wrong time of year, but we’ll give it our best shot. Off to the arboretum.

MAY 14, 2001

(Richard Dawkins is Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University.)

Douglas Noel Adams 1952-2001

The Order of Service for His Memorial Schubler Chorales—J. S. Bach Shepherd’s Farewell, from The Childhood of Christ Hector Berlioz Welcome to the Church by Reverend Antony Hurst, on behalf of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Introduction and opening prayer by Stephen Coles JONNY BROCK

Three Kings from Persian Lands—Peter Cornelius ED VICTOR

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord—

Traditional American melody & words by Julia Ward Howe MARK CARWARDINE

Gone Dancing—Robbie Mclntosh Te Fovemus—The Chameleon Arts Chorus (by P. Wickens)

JAMES THRIFT, SUE ADAMS, JANE GARNIER

Rockstar—Margo Buchanan Prayers of Thanksgiving by Stephen Coles Holding On—Gary Brooker Wish You Were Here—David Gilmour RICHARD DAWKINS

For the beauty of the earth—Music by Conrad Kocher & words by Folliott S. Pierpoint ROBBIE STAMP

Vergnugte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust from Cantata No 170

Gone Dancing—Robbie Mclntosh Te Fovemus—The Chameleon Arts Chorus (by P. Wickens)

JAMES THRIFT, SUE ADAMS, JANE GARNIER

Rockstar—Margo Buchanan Prayers of Thanksgiving by Stephen Coles Holding On—Gary Brooker Wish You Were Here—David Gilmour RICHARD DAWKINS

For the beauty of the earth—Music by Conrad Kocher & words by Folliott S. Pierpoint ROBBIE STAMP

Vergnugte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust from Cantata No 170

S. Bach Aria Contented rest, beloved heart’s desire, You are not found in the sins of hell, But only in heavenly concord; You alone fortify the feeble heart.

Contented rest, beloved heart’s desire, Therefore none but the gifts of virtue Shall have their abode in my heart.

SIMON JONES

For all the Saints who from their labours rest—

Music by R. Vaughan Williams &c words by William W. How BLESSING BY REVEREND

ANTONY HURST Organ Music by J. S. Bach: Fantasia in G

Prelude and Fugue in C

Italian Concerto Editor’s Acknowledgments To Douglas, without whom all of us would not be sharing the bounteous pleasures of these pages; I miss Prelude and Fugue in C