Over the years, I was lucky enough to meet Arthur C. Clarke three times. They all crowd into my mind together now. During the centennial celebration of H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine," there was a weeklong celebration of Wells, his work and the contributions from Wells aficionados.

There were great figures there - Brian Aldiss, Arthur C. Clarke, Leon Stover and Stephen Baxter. They were vice presidents of the H.G. Wells Society, and my name and three others were added to the list that week. There was a smashing banquet in the dining room of the House of Lords. Wells ate there a couple of times, so we all forwent our democratic principles. After the banquet we walked to the festival theater down the Thames. Once at the theater, we watched with a marvelous lecture Wells' and Korda's classic groundbreaking film, "Things To Come."