*caveat* I suggested the last 3 authors on the list (however my full explanations did not make the poll :( ).
Given this, however, I think I did a grave disservice by not adding PK Dick to the list. I can't think of another SF author who's short stories inspired more movies (many of which were summer headliners in their day). At least for me, whenever I am confronted with a computational problem, I am almost always inspired most easily when I think about 'the perl way' to solve it. I think Dick best embodies the inspiration of creativity, and therefore best embodies perl.
fnord