Sir Arthur C. Clarke, legendary science fiction writer, has passed away at age 90. This video may have been his last message to the world.

It was uploaded to YouTube in December, and displays his enduring optimism — despite the dark cloud of failing health.

The golden age of space is only just beginning… Space travel and space tourism will one day become almost as commonplace as flying to exotic destinations on our own planet.

Peace was high on his mind as well.

I hope that we have learned something from the most barbaric century in history — the twentieth. I would like to see us overcome our tribal factions, and begin to think and act as if we were one family. That would be real globalization.

Clarke said that if he was granted three wishes, he would want: proof of extra terrestrial life, freedom from dependence on oil, and an end to the civil war in Sri Lanka. Although he has had a diverse career in underwater exploration, space and science promotion, and communications technology the aging legend said that he would most like to be remembered as a writer.

Update: The IEEE Spectrum has published a very recent interview with Clarke. You can listen to the audio of that meeting too.

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