Sunday saw the fifth anniversary of the passing of Stanislaw Lem, Poland's most translated writer.

The author, who invigorated the world of science fiction, yet remained dubious about most of the genre's representatives, is best known for his books Solaris and The Cyberiad, the latter hailed as one of the wittiest Polish books of the twentieth century.

Those closest to Lem, who was born in Lwow (now Lviv, Ukraine) and resettled in Krakow after the war, remember him as a resoundingly original and amusing man.

His son Tomasz, who recently penned a well-received memoir, noted that the great writer was also something of a greedy fellow.

According to Lem junior, the writer had a private stash of sweets hidden in the garage, typically orange peel enrobed in chocolate. Whilst moving house, it turned out that these papers rose almost to the ceiling.

Such delicacies were often hard to come by during the communist years. A telling detail is that when the budding scribe proposed to his beloved in the fifties, he sent her an entire torte.

Lem remained original in death. His Krakow tomb, a concrete slab, seems drab from afar, set as it is amidst a sea of fancy marble concoctions.

However, on closer inspection, it emerges that the face of the tomb incorporates a swirl of red paint, giving the structure a decidedly planetary appearance, wholly fitting for a master of science fiction.

A Latin inscription reads 'feci, quod potui, faciant meliora potentes' (I did what I could, let those who can, do better').

An asteroid, 3836 Lem, has been named in tribute to the writer, likewise Poland's first satellite. (nh)

Source: PAP