In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people
very angry, and is generally considered to have been a bad move.
-- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Adams died of a heart attack on 11 May 2001, aged 49, after resting from his
regular workout at a private gym in Montecito, California. He had
unknowingly suffered a gradual narrowing of the coronary arteries, which led
at that moment to a myocardial infarction and a fatal cardiac arrhythmia.

Adams described himself as a "radical atheist", adding radical for emphasis
so he would not be asked if he meant agnostic. He told American Atheists
that this made things easier, but most importantly it conveyed the fact that
he really meant it. "I am convinced that there is not a god," he said.
Despite this, he remained fascinated by religion because of its effect on
human affairs. "I love to keep poking and prodding at it. I've thought about
it so much over the years that that fascination is bound to spill over into
my writing."

"Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe
that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?"