Vernor Vinge, author of many influential hard science fiction works, died March 20 at the age of 79. Vinge sold his first science-fiction story in 1964, "Apartness", which appeared in the June 1965 issue of New Worlds. In 1971, he received a PhD (Math) from UCSD, and the next year began teaching at San Diego
Thank you for the great work, Vernor. You’ll be missed.
He’s one of my main recommendations for anyone even vaguely interested in sci-fi. Sad news.