Michael Crichton smiles at a mug

Michael Crichton, author of the genetical techno-thriller Next, speaks at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, on November 28, 2006. He was presented with a National Press Club mug, the same model that has previously been given to Angelina Jolie, Richard Dreyfus and Joan Collins. Michael Crichton was 6'9" tall, and his height certainly shows here. Crichton was only 66 years old when he died from lymphoma two years later, in 2008.