Terry Pratchett 's publisher confirmed his death earlier today, at home, in bed, surrounded by family. I devoured his many books throughout high school, and well beyond. I think, at this point, I've read almost all of them. I like to think his perspective on morality and critical thinking helped shape my own. I only knew his voice through his writing, but it felt like I knew him, just a little bit. For the Clockwork Empires crowd here, some of his Discworld books touched on Cthulu, and others touched satirically upon the British peerage, among his cornucopia of topics. He may have been the first author whose personal life I took an interest in, and his death makes me sad, although it was not unexpected - he'd been in slow decline from a form of Alzheimer's. The world is a little less magical today.
My dad, among other things, died of Alzheimers, and I know that while it's terrible for the family, it actually can sometimes be a blessing for the person with the illness. I guess it depends a lot on the individual though. Anyway, while I wasn't a fan of Mr. Pratchett's other works, I have a warm place in my heart for his collaboration with Neil Gaiman on Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (yes, it is quite a mouthful, so most of the time it is simply referred to as Good Omens). I suffer from depression and anxiety, but if I ever need to have a laugh, that's my go-to book. You can keep your Hitch-hiker's guide. Pratchett and Gaiman make Douglas Adams feel like an amateur.
Amusingly, there's a Change.org petition to revoke his death: https://www.change.org/p/death-bring-back-terry-pratchett
