Robert Jordan's passing

I will admit that I am a selfish man. When I first heard of Robert Jordan's death, my first reaction was, "Oh, please tell me he at least finished book 12 first."

He did not. I have heard rumors that his wife knows the ending, but all that means is that a lesser writer will finish the work began by a master, if those of us who have been waiting for YEARS to get the last book--number 12!!--even get an ending at all. The man who promised to keep writing "until they nail[ed] shut his coffin" (as it said on the back page of his every book), discovered he's not immortal, after writing superfluous prequels and keeping a blog about his rare medical condition. The "2,000 page monster" we were promised will, in all likelihood, never arrive.

Grieve. Both for the loss of one of the truly great, and for the curse of hubris.