Douglas Adams was born in 1952 and created all the various and contradictory manifestations of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: radio, novels, TV, computer game, stage adaptation, comic book and bath towel. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy book was published 30 years ago on 12 October 1979 and its phenomenal success sent the book straight to Number One in the UK Bestseller List. In 1984 Douglas Adams became the youngest author to be awarded a Golden Pan. His series has sold over 15 million books in the UK, the US and Australia and was also a bestseller in German, Swedish and many other languages. Douglas lived with his wife and daughter in California, where he died suddenly in 2001.