Happy Towel Day — yes, 25 May is a day to remember Douglas Adams, and had been commemorated annually since his passing on 11 May 2001

One thing you can say about sci-fi fans (and there are lots of things you might say) is they like a day. There’s Star Wars Day (May 4th!), Doctor Who Day (November 23) — and there’s also Towel Day, when fans look back at the remarkable impact of one Douglas Noel Adams. Of course most people when asked will name The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, but let’s not forget his work on Doctor Who, the Dirk Gently novels and visionary analysis of where consumer technology might lead. He also (at least) once played on stage with Pink Floyd, was friends with John Cleese and much else beside.

If you aren’t celebrating yourself, you can (with some small effort) find various on-line events such as poetry reading (the Vogon kind) and even people playing his adventure game. In 2015, astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti sent a “Towel Day greeting” and read aloud a sample from The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy from the International Space Station. In 2016 Briton Tim Peake celebrated the day in space. There are worse ways to be remembered.

You can get more background on today from the Towel Day site, but for now we’ll just wish you all a Happy Towel Day and contemplate our own memories of Douglas Adams. There’s a frood who really knew where his towel was!