Don't Panic: 14 Facts About Douglas Adams
![Don't Panic: 14 Facts About Douglas Adams](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/2/9/781529_320x180.jpg)
Douglas Adams is one of the most beloved authors in sci fi history. His Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy series is one of the weirdest and most original stories and worlds every created. It's not wonder it inspired video game, movie and tv homages.
Itching to learn more fascinating facts about this legendary author? Look no further, we've assembled more than a dozen tidbits about the writer.
For example, Adams had a BUNCH of jobs before becoming a writer. He was even a body guard for a Qatari family, in addition to being a hospital porter, barn builder and chicken coop cleaner.
If you're anything like us, you love The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and even wrote some bad fan fiction inspired by it when you were younger. Sorry, we didn't have time to do 42, but here are 14 fun facts about the much-missed, gone-too-soon author Douglas Adams …don't just stand there, scroll on down!
![Before he was a successful writer, Adams was a bodyguard for a Qatari family After studying at Cambridge; he worked as a hospital porter, barn builder, and chicken shed cleaner. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/1/6/781516.jpg)
Source: Pan MacMillian
![Douglas Adams was a script editor for Doctor Who. He wrote three episodes of the TV series, but one script was never made. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/2/0/781520.jpg)
Source: CNET
![Douglas Adams' favorite fact was sloth-related. He wrote his favorite fact was that young sloths are so inept that they frequently grab their own arms and legs instead of tree limbs, and fall out of trees. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/1/9/781519.jpg)
Source: The Salmon of Doubt
![The original Hitchhiker's script included a takedown of a former classmate. POETRY (WORST IN UNIVERSE) 1.PAULA NANCY MILLSTONE JENNINGS 37 WASP VILLAS GREENBRIDGE ESSEX GB10 1LL It said that the worst poetry in the Universe was written by Paul Neil Milne Johnstone. an actual classmate of Adams who wrote poetry. Adams changed the name to avoid a lawsuit. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/2/1/781521.jpg)
Source: The Geek Twins
![Douglas Adams was the first person in Europe to buy a Mac. utseende och individuellt uttryck. The second? His friend Stephen Fry. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/1/7/781517.jpg)
![Douglas Adams wrote Monty Python sketches. Terry Jones was one of the first people to hear the radio production of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/1/8/781518.jpg)
Source: BBC
![The importance of carrying a towel came from Adams' personal life. Douglas Adams said, I was vacationing with friends in Greece some years back. Every morning they'd have to sit around and wait for me because I couldn't find my blessed towel... 1 came to feel that someone really together, one who was well organised, would always know where his towel is. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/1/5/781515.jpg)
Source: h2g2
![Adams supposedly hated the green character known as the cosmic Cutie. Adams is quoted as saying, I HATE the little green blob and have spent years locked in arguments with my publishers with me trying to get rid of the obscene little thing. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/2/2/781522.jpg)
Source: Douglas Adams FAQs
![He came up with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy while drunk in the middle of a field. Douglas Adams was 18 while hitchhiking around Europe and thought that there should be A Hitchhiker's Guide to Europe, but for the Galaxy. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/1/2/781512.jpg)
Source: The New York Times
![Douglas Adams named a Pink Floyd Album. Adams named The Division Bell. He was friends with the band, and even played guitar with them on his 42nd birthday. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/0/6/781506.jpg)
Source: Pink Floyd's Official Twitter
![The character slartibartfast was originally named Phartiphukborlz. Adams changed it to fit BBC standards, aiming for something which sounded that rude, but was almost, but not quite, entirely inoffensive. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/1/4/781514.jpg)
Source: The Frood
![Douglas Adams told Stephen Fry what 42 meant. Fry said, I cannot share it with anyone and the secret must go with me to the grave. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/1/0/781510.jpg)
Source: BBC
![Douglas Adams had his daughter shortly after he turned 42. Maybe she was his answer to answer to Life, the Universe and Everything. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/0/7/781507.jpg)
Source: DouglasAdams.eu
![An asteroid was named after him. The week he died, the International Astronomical Union announced Asteroid Douglasadams. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/1/3/781513.jpg)
Source: NBC News