Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Terry Pratchett's Hard Drive Destroyed By Steamroller (nytimes.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the commemorative-crush dept.

WheezyJoe writes: In accordance with his wishes, a hard drive formerly belonging to author Terry Pratchett has been crushed by steamroller. According to friend and fellow author Neil Gaiman, Pratchett (who died at 66 in 2015) wanted "whatever he was working on at the time of his death to be taken out along with his computers, to be put in the middle of a road and for a steamroller to steamroll over them all."

According to the article, on August 25, two years after the author's passing, Mr. Pratchett's estate manager and close friend, Rob Wilkins, posted a picture of a hard drive and a steamroller on an official Twitter account they shared. The pictures posted suggest the steamroller was one powered by actual steam.
Minutes later they tweeted a photo of the crushed hard drive -- which will soon be displayed at the Salisbury Museum in England as part of their new exhibit on the life and work of Terry Pratchett.

36 of 161 comments (clear)

  1. That's ok because by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    The NSA will have a backup copy.

    1. Re:That's ok because by stooo · · Score: 2

      On physically bent and torn apart disks, a partial recovery would be very very prohibitive, but theoretically possible.

      --
      aaaaaaa
    2. Re: That's ok because by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Fantasy author standard practice is to send a couple of Hobbits off to dump it in an active volcano.

  2. That's the British for you... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 2

    If he was American, he would have put a bullet through the hard drive.

    1. Re:That's the British for you... by Alwin+Henseler · · Score: 4, Funny

      If he was American, he would have put a bullet through the hard drive.

      Pen testing physical security, eh?

      Guess he just wanted to see how the drive would perform under heavy load. That, or try a heavy duty tool to remove his Windows 10 spyw^H^H^H install (or was it systemd? Who knows).

    2. Re:That's the British for you... by arth1 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Let me correct that for you: "If he was a Texan ...."

      Let me correct that for you: "If he were a Texan..."

      He had the hat, if not the belt buckle.

    3. Re:That's the British for you... by arth1 · · Score: 2

      Isn't "if he was a Texan" is the correct form?

      No, it's a subjunctive, meaning it's speculative or hypothetical, not factual.
      You would say "If I were you", implying "but I'm not" by using "were" instead of "was". Likewise, saying "If Pratchett were a Texan", you signal that you know he was not. "If Pratchett was a Texan" implies that you don't know whether this is the case.

  3. Wow! by kaizendojo · · Score: 4, Funny

    What kinda porn was *he* trying to hide???

    1. Re:Wow! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      fan fiction involving Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax

    2. Re:Wow! by alexo · · Score: 4, Funny

      A proof that P != NP

    3. Re:Wow! by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 4, Funny

      What kinda porn was *he* trying to hide???

      Turtle porn, all the way down.

    4. Re:Wow! by Ihlosi · · Score: 2
      fan fiction involving Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax

      It is stated in "The Shepherds Crown" that Nanny Ogg had many husbands - three of which were her own.

  4. I understand, but... by ToTheStars · · Score: 3

    I can understand him not wanting his world to be weighed down with posthumous publications (looking at you, Dune), and some of his later books were slipping a little compared to his peak (still all worth reading). Nevertheless, I would have liked to know what he was working on.

    Going forward, the Watch were some of my favorite characters (and the books where they starred were some of my favorites), so I hope the TV series is successfully completed!

    1. Re:I understand, but... by Dunbal · · Score: 2

      (looking at you, Dune

      Nothing "posthumous" about THAT. Merely a son bad at writing trying to fill his father's shoes and failing miserably.

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    2. Re:I understand, but... by MarkTina · · Score: 4, Insightful

      He wasn't 100% there towards the end and apparently had concerns his work was crap and didn't want anyone digging it up and publishing it when he was gone .. fair enough :-)

    3. Re:I understand, but... by fermion · · Score: 4, Insightful
      If you don't want publishers to scrap every penny from whatever dregs you left behind, the only thing to do is destroy the work. Some writers like Heinlein were probably ok with work being published posthumously. He was well known to believe that he wrote for a paycheck, and everything he wrote was to published. He supposedly said the day that his publisher rejected a work was the day he would walk across the street to another publisher.

      For those who are more selective, destruction is the best option.

      --
      "She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
    4. Re:I understand, but... by drinkypoo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Implying the father wrote well? I have read Frank Herbert - all of his works - and I don't think the apple fell far from the tree.

      Herbert was perhaps only a good and not a great writer, but he was a great imaginer.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    5. Re:I understand, but... by Dunbal · · Score: 2

      I actually liked The Silmarillion?

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    6. Re:I understand, but... by thomst · · Score: 4, Interesting

      fermion stated:,/p>

      Some writers like Heinlein were probably ok with work being published posthumously. He was well known to believe that he wrote for a paycheck, and everything he wrote was to published. He supposedly said the day that his publisher rejected a work was the day he would walk across the street to another publisher.

      For those who are more selective, destruction is the best option.

      Actually, the day his publisher rejected a book WAS the day he "walked across the street" to another publisher, never to return.

      In 1959, Charles Scribner's Sons rejected Heinlein's novel Starship Troopers as "too mature and too controversial" for their juvenile imprint. Heinlein immediately ended his exclusive contract with the firm and his agent was quickly able to strike a deal with Putnam's to publish the book, instead. Starship Troopers marked the beginning of his polemical middle period as a novelist, a trend which I tend to think was at least in part due to his "liberation" from the stuffy confines of Scribner's editorial policies.

      I've always been grateful that I got to meet the man in person at Octocon II in Santa Rosa in 1977. He'd been a hero of mine since I was 7 years old - and, in person, he did not disappoint. It just so happened that I was assigned to work security at the door, while RAH and Theodore Sturgeon spent all day signing autographs at a table in the back of the bloodmobile that he (or, more likely, his wife Virginia) had talked the 'con's organizers into welcoming. Despite the long hours and the repetitive nature of his self-assigned task, he was unfailingly courteous to the stream of blood doners who waited with sometimes-voluminous stacks of books in hand for their chance at his signature.

      The only exception was a hippie type who wandered into the coach after the blood collection was done for the day and, practically wagging his non-existent tail, requested an autograph. When the author asked him if he'd donated blood, he said "No.". Heinlein then inquired, "I take it they wouldn't allow you to donate?" The guy shook his head and replied, "Nah. I don't believe in that stuff." The great man tossed his unsigned book back across the table, looked him dead in the eye, and said, in a voice as cold as liquid helium, "You, sir, are unwelcome here. Leave. Now."

      Which he did, figurative tail between his legs.

      That was my only personal experience with Heinlein, but it sure left a lasting impression ...

      --
      Check out my novel.
  5. Re: " two years after the author's passing" by joh · · Score: 2

    He who believes nothing will have to believe in anything.

  6. Re:" two years after the author's passing" by deburg · · Score: 2
    >two years after the author's passing

    well, they had to be sure he wasn't coming back, you know. Also, rent the steamroller, get permits, approvals from local council/neighbours/etc

    But seriously, it's a hard disk, there could have been accounting stuff/family pictures/etc in there. Best to check first.

    RIP Sir Terry Practchett, see ya at the dark side of the sun

  7. IDE drive? by CharlesAKAChuck · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Seriously, is that an PATA IDE drive? I believe it is. I thought Terry Pratchett was really into computers...and that leaves me with two questions: What the hell kind of computer was he using that had an IDE drive, and considering how slow IDE drives are, what the hell is GRR Martin using-chisels and stone tablets?

    1. Re:IDE drive? by alvinrod · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Writers can be a bit weird when it comes to their equipment. It may well be that he still used an ancient machine to actually write his novels that he had been using for some time. If all you're doing is some simple word processing, you could probably get by with using something from the 80's. Probably not a bad idea if you don't want the possibility of distraction.

    2. Re:IDE drive? by arth1 · · Score: 2

      Yes, it's an old HD, and I am fairly certain that pterry said he had gotten a new computer back in 2007 or so, at which point SATA had taken over. So I am not totally convinced that this was "the" HD, even though I have no doubts that it came from one of his computers.

    3. Re: IDE drive? by jordanjay29 · · Score: 2

      That time was about three seasons of GOT ago.

    4. Re:IDE drive? by thegarbz · · Score: 2

      It may well be that he still used an ancient machine to actually write his novels that he had been using for some time. If all you're doing is some simple word processing, you could probably get by with using something from the 80's. Probably not a bad idea if you don't want the possibility of distraction.

      Hate to break that lovely idea, but Terry Pratchett was the opposite. He was a big advocate of complicated Word processors, used MS Word to write his novels, and did so with all the wonderful distraction of a computer with 6 monitors.
      Here's a picture of his writing workdesk from an older BBC interview: https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/image...

      He often quoted as never being without a computer and frequently moved between laptop and the many computers he had in his house.

      Not to mention that his last few novels he was using dictation software. It's about as complicated and far from the "quirky weird writers" as it can get.
       

  8. Our Heroes Leave. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I met him at a games conference in 1990/1991? in Dublin.

    Wonderful man. Got drunk with us. Laughed his ass off.

    The books started off as whimsical, then turned profound, without pomposity.

    When I think of the death of Granny Weatherwax, and the ribbon tied to the tree, as guide to where she should be buried,
    written by a man who knew his time grew close ...

    These things we choose. Frost to flame.

    Adieu, Terry.

  9. Re: " two years after the author's passing" by Frank+Burly · · Score: 2

    The quote is attributed to GK Chesterton, who (according to wikipedia) also said: "[The Jew] should know where we are; and he would know where he is, which is in a foreign land." Even with this though, Chesterton seems to have opposed Hitler and eugenics, so it isn't fair to call it a Nazi quote, but it is more fair than your characterization of liberals.

  10. Re:That's one way to do it. by Dunbal · · Score: 2, Funny

    Hillary Clinton is furiously taking notes. For when hammers just won't do.

    --
    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  11. Re:well obviously the steamroller is powered by st by Dunbal · · Score: 3, Informative

    If you bothered to look at the pictures in TFA you'd realize that they used an actual STEAM roller.

    --
    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  12. Disc drive by billybob2001 · · Score: 2

    Title: Disc-whirrled
    Sub-title: Erasing Steam(roller)

  13. Encrypt, pass out. by stooo · · Score: 3, Funny

    Don't need no stinkin' steamroller.
    Use full disk encryption.
    May the passphrase be gone when you pass out.
    And yes, you can call it the "pass out phrase"

    --
    aaaaaaa
  14. DELIVERY RECEIVED by Alain+Williams · · Score: 4, Insightful

    MY FRIEND SIR TERRY CAN NOW WORK IN PEACE AT MY HOUSE and complete his books. You may read them when you join us.

    This was first written entirely in caps ... but a soulless slashdot filter complained that that was shouting :-(

  15. Re:That's one way to do it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Whereas Donald Trump is trying to figure out which end of the pointy thing they gave him produces ink. And that's the just the start of his problems.

  16. Re:That's one way to do it. by Carewolf · · Score: 2

    When clearing your browser history just isn't enough, there's a steamroller.

    I think running over a harddrive with a steamroller is going to damage the road more than the drive. The drive might not be plug and play anymore, but the data is probably unharmed for forensic recovery.

  17. The ROADROLLER was one powered by actual steam. by Badger+Nadgers · · Score: 2

    "the steamroller was one powered by actual steam." They always are. The clue is in the name.