Who or What is a Ford Prefect

Ford Prefect is one of two things, and in some instances, it is a combination of both things. In the case of Author, Douglas Adams, it is a character in his novel, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," and its series of radio broadcasts and novels. Taking an interesting venue into the life of a great science fiction author, Douglas Adams; we will discover where the name, "Ford Prefect" originated from as well as its part in "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." We will also journey into the final message behind the adventures in the writings of Douglas Adams. Wherein we will learn what Ford Prefect has to do with "So Long and Thanks for all the Fish."

Douglas Adams was born in March 1952 in Cambridge. He would go to two schools in his life time, both in the U.K. Brentwood School in Essex is where he earned his Bachelor's in English Literature in 1974. He would later continue to St. John's College in Cambridge, where he would earn his Master's degree. Douglas Adams became a brilliant science fiction author, widely known for his 1978 BBC radio broadcasted airing of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." He would later follow in 1980 with " The Restaurant at the End of the Universe," 1982 with "The Universe and Everything," 1984 with "So Long and Thanks for all the Fish," and finally in 1992 with "Mostly Harmless." Douglas Adams would inevitably earn the title of the youngest author to ever receive the Golden Pan Award. Dying in May 2001 of a sudden heart attack while working on a feature film version of the "Hitchhiker;" he left behind his wife and daughter where they resided in Santa Barbara, California. He was 49 years of age.

The novel "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" was his most famous works. It was a 4 part BBC Radio Series. In 1979 it earned the spotlight in the Hugos Awards. The Hugos Awards are of the highest awards in science fiction, and are voted yearly by the members of the World Science Fiction Convention. "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" was the only radio show ever nominated into the shortlist as the best dramatic presentation and lost only to "Superman" the movie. Since the airing of the radio broadcasts in March 1978, it has become a series of best-selling novels, screenplays, TV series, computer games, and even a 2005 film titled, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." The radio broadcasts were played by Geoffrey McGivern, TV by David Dixon, and the film by Dante Terrell Smith, a.k.a. Mos Def.

Now remains the question, who or what is a "Ford Prefect?" Originally a joke missed by Americans, Ford Prefect was actually a car manufactured in the U.K. by Ford in the 1950's. Americans believe it to be a misspelling of "perfect." It was also Douglas Adams' character alongside Arthur Dent in the series "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." The French translation of this novel calls the character "Ford Escort." In Douglas Adams' novel it is explained as being "nicely inconspicuous" and sometimes even suggested that the character picked it out of simple mistake of the dominant life form. The name Ford Prefect was not the character's real name, however. His real name is never known. It is said that his father was the only survivor of a great, mysterious catastrophe on their home planet, Betelgeuse. This was called the Great Collapsing Hrung Disaster of Gal./Sid./Year 03758. Ford never learned to pronounce his biological name, for it was spoken only in the specific native dialect. His father would end up dying of shame, which is a terminal disease in their part of the universe. Ford's semi-cousin, sharing three mothers, is quoted as to saying, "My semi-cousin, Ix, excuse me Ford..." The name Ix would translate into a "boy who couldn't explain what a Hrung is or why it should choose to collapse into Betelgeuse Seven." It was also believed Ford chose this name from a list of Ford's, such as the psychic Arthur Ford, the director John Ford, the news reader Anna Ford, or the carmaker of the Ford Consul and Angelina cars, Henry Ford.

In the TV series, Ford was trying to great a car when a Ford Prefect almost ran over him. This is where he and Arthur Dent would meet. Arthur thought Ford to be an out of work actor from Guildford. Arthur thought he came to write a research article on Earth in The Guide. They both left when the Vogon constructor ships took them both with them. Ford was the explanatory person to Arthur as to why they done the weird things they did, such as sticking a fish in your ear, knowing where your towel is, and why the greatest cooks in the universe made bad food on Vogon. "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" follows Arthur through the misfortunes and adventures of his house being demolished, being blown up, thrown out of airlock, being insulted and whacked, having a fish stuck in his ear, and being deprived of tea. Arthur's adventures will journey to find the ultimate answer to the ultimate question from and with Ford. They set out on adventures to discover the meaning of life and to travel on the newly constructed Earth II.

"So Long and Thanks for all the Fish" is the fourth series of science fiction novels in Douglas Adams' collection. In this novel, Arthur finds out who Ford really is and that he knew of the demolition to his home all along. The film in 2005 left many science fiction fans saying this was a humorous way to say goodbye. However, Arthur would find that the title message was involved in a fish bowl left for him with his junk mail, it had inscribed, "So Long and Thanks!" Arthur would find from travels with others that many people had these fish bowls. They all thought them to be messages from the dolphins when they had departed the planet Earth before it was demolished to make an intergalactic motorway. Their final belief to the message taken was, "This bowl was brought to you by the campaign to save the humans. We bid you farewell."

Arthur and Ford would finally meet again and adventure to Earth II. Taking a stolen flying saucer to the planet where God's final message to His creation would be located. In arriving, they found the answer, "Sorry for the Inconvenience."

In conclusion, Ford Prefect is an automobile, an alien, a character, a friend, a writer, and even a translator. He is a fictional character of science who writes an electronic book to be published in the Guide. I think in all this research, the character of Ford Prefect and the creation of him is not what was most amazing, but the message from the dolphins. Looking back at the time when Douglas Adams wrote these series, and the time that has passed, I find it funny that we live now in a world in which we campaign to save the dolphins. We know as humans that dolphins have more intellect than us. That is where I find the interest more fitting in the fact that they were trying to save us in this series of novels.