Towel Day: May 25th

 

It can be argued, I think, that a book's importance can, in part, be measured by the type of impression it leaves upon society after it has been written.  There is, of course, the immediate effects while people are still excited about a given work, but there are also longer lasting impacts that truly show how important a book has been to our culture.  Granted, these influences are not always profound or important, but they do exist and they are important for some people.  I'm talking about something more than Twilight fame.  Twilight has had its moment, but I don't think it will last, or ever have a following like the Lord of the Rings or other stories.  Part of my exploration of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is going to be on the way it has influenced our culture and how it has remained relevant and popular even after more than 30 years.

For this post I want to talk about Towel Day.  Towel Day began May 25 2001, a mere two weeks after Douglas Adams' untimely death.  It has since been a tradition for fans everywhere to carry their towels with them every May 25 to celebrate Adams' life and his genius and creativity as a writer. 

For those who aren't familiar with the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, towels were named in the stories as being one of the most valuable possessions a interstellar traveler could have.  This is what the Hitchhiker's Guide says:

"A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-bogglingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough . . . any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with."

In honor of Douglas Adams, I am going to carry my towel with me and of course tell everyone who asks about one of the most entertaining authors that I have read.  I also wanted to write this post to share with everyone who comes across it so that they too can share the love of humor, Science Fiction, and hitchhiking.

Here is a short video talking about Towel Day

This is a Google Doodle done by Vinesh, a student at Lincoln Praire School, where they will be reading Vogon poetry to celebrate Towel Day.  Google Towel Day Logo.

Desktop backgrounds by Travis Avery to celebrate Towel Day 2011

Lastly, Towel Day will also be celebrated in Second Life at Milliways, the restaurant at the end of the universe

If any of this made absolutely no sense to you, please, do yourself the favor and go down to your nearest library or bookstore or get onto Amazon or iTunes and buy this book.  You'll laugh your way through it and have a more light-hearted look at Life, the Universe and Everything.