Arthur C. Clarke
British science-fiction novelist who co-wrote '2001: A Space Odyssey' (1968) with Stanley Kubrick, building on his own short story 'The Sentinel'. The book was published shortly after the film – per Spielberg's anecdote, Clarke was banking on the novel for the income, and Kubrick paid him on the side to wait. Lived in the botanical gardens in Colombo, Sri Lanka for decades; Spielberg met him there during the 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom' shoot. Later wrote 'Rendezvous with Rama' (1973).