Sad news indeed. HHGTTG is actually based on a real guidebook,
The Hitch Hikers Guide to Europe. Some of the humour is similar. for instance, early editions of the book, which Adams had on hitching trips, listed communist Albania as 'forget it' whereas the entry for the Earth was 'mostly harmless'. I hitched around Europe in the 80's with this book, big fan of the radio series too. Forget the 2004 movie - load of dingo's kidneys. Radio series rules

.