Michael Crichton

After graduating from Harvard Medical School, MICHAEL CRICHTON, embarked on a career in filmmaking.  Called the "father of the techno-thriller," his novels include "The Andromeda Strain," "The Great Train Robbery," " Congo," "Jurassic Park" and "Rising Sun."  He has also written four nonfiction books:  "Five Patients," "Jasper Johns," "Electronic Life: How to Think About Computers" and "Travels."

Crichton's novels have been translated into 20 languages, seven of which have been made into feature films, including "Jurassic Park" and the upcoming "Rising Sun." Crichton has directed several films, among them Westworld, Coma and The Great Train Robbery.  Always interested in computers, he once ran a software company called FilmTrack and invented the computer game, Amazon.  His film Westworld has the distinction of being the first feature film to employ digitized images–quite a feat back in 1973.

Universal Pictures