Stanislaw Lem Passed Away

Stanislaw Lem, a popular science fiction writer whose novel "Solaris" was filmed twice, died Monday in his native Poland, his secretary said. He was 84.

Lem died in Krakow, Wojciech Zemek told The Associated Press. Zemek did not give other details or the cause of death, citing only Lem's advanced age.

Lem was one of the world's most famous SF writers, with stories published in over 40 languages and nearly 30,000,000 copies. After Jules Verne, his work is probably the best known science fiction translated to English.

His novel Solaris was turned into motion pictures in 1972 and 2002. Other well known works include The Invincible, The Star Diaries, The Futurological Congress and Memoirs of a Space Traveler. Hospital of the Transfiguration was censored by communist authorities for eight years before being released in 1956.