A Classic?

I was walking through the bookstore the other day - and noticed that the staff had displayed several of Douglas Adams' books as "Sci Fi Classics" and it got me thinking. What makes a book or a movie a classic?

For those of you who don't recognize the name - Douglas Adams' created the off-beat/cult science fiction series "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". "Hitchhiker's" has appeared as a BBC radio show, a television series, a Hollywood motion picture and recently was resurrected by a different author who has released the 6th book of trilogy.

I discovered "Hitchhikers" in the early 80's and quickly became one of my favorite reads. I think I liked the quirky feel of it - like Monty Python in outer space (w/ an actual plot).

But when you think of Science Fiction "Classics" what comes to mind are the giants of Science Fiction. Arthur C Clarke. Issac Asimov. Frank Herbert. Robert Heinlein. Groundbreaking authors who defined Science Fiction as a literary genre. But Douglas Adams?

2009 marked the 30th anniversary since "Hitchhikers" was first published, but unfortunately Douglas did not live to see this milestone. He died of a heart attack in 2001.

He has left each of us to determine if "Hitchhikers" deserves to be called a Classic of Science Fiction.