By KRISHAN FRANCIS, Associated Press Writer Thu Mar 20, 7:34 AM ET

Just got this on Yahoo News

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Famed science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke will be
buried Saturday in his adopted country of Sri Lanka in a secular funeral
according to his wishes, a spokesman said Thursday.

"It will be a secular, simple funeral and there will be no speeches," said
Clarke's aide Nalaka Gunawardena.

Clarke who died at the age of 90 on Wednesday had left written instructions
that no religious rites of any faith should be associated with his funeral.

He will be buried at Colombo's general cemetery in a plot owned by his
friend and diving company partner with whom the writer lived for decades,
Gunawardena said.

Fred Clarke, his brother, had arrived in the island to participate in the
funeral, the aide added.

The visionary author won worldwide acclaim with more than 100 books on
space, science and the future.

The 1968 story "2001: A Space Odyssey" - written simultaneously as a novel
and screenplay with director Stanley Kubrick - was a frightening prophecy of
artificial intelligence run amok.

Born in Minehead, England, on Dec. 16, 1917, the son of a farmer, Clarke was
also credited with the concept of communications satellites in 1945, decades
before they became a reality.

He moved to Sri Lanka in 1956.

By KRISHAN FRANCIS, Associated Press Writer Thu Mar 20, 7:34 AM ET

"It will be a secular, simple funeral and there will be no speeches," said
Clarke's aide Nalaka Gunawardena.

Clarke who died at the age of 90 on Wednesday had left written instructions
that no religious rites of any faith should be associated with his funeral.

He will be buried at Colombo's general cemetery in a plot owned by his
friend and diving company partner with whom the writer lived for decades,
Gunawardena said.

Fred Clarke, his brother, had arrived in the island to participate in the
funeral, the aide added.

The visionary author won worldwide acclaim with more than 100 books on
space, science and the future.

The 1968 story "2001: A Space Odyssey" - written simultaneously as a novel
and screenplay with director Stanley Kubrick - was a frightening prophecy of
artificial intelligence run amok.

Born in Minehead, England, on Dec. 16, 1917, the son of a farmer, Clarke was
also credited with the concept of communications satellites in 1945, decades
before they became a reality.

He moved to Sri Lanka in 1956.