Sheldon Brown has passed away

I have just become aware that one of the great characters of the cycling world has passed away. He will be sorely missed, although at a time when old school is cool he will live on in every home built single speed or 'weird bike' as he called some of his creations. The following biog was lifted from wikipedia. His home page is http://sheldonbrown.com/home.html

BIOGRAPHY
Sheldon Brown was employed as the "Parts Manager, Webmaster and general Tech Guru" of Harris Cyclery, a bike shop in West Newton, Massachusetts. He was an enthusiast for many old and unlikely forms of bicycles and cycling including Raleigh and their English three-speed bicycles,[3] the Sturmey-Archer hub in general, tandems, and in particular fixed-gear cycles. He was an accomplished amateur photographer and his site is well illustrated with his own work.

ONLINE
Sheldon wrote a well-regarded guide to wheelbuilding, available on his website. He also established the mirror sites of the technical work of Damon Rinard and others.Sheldon was a frequent participant in online cycling forums such as the rec.bicycles.tech Usenet newsgroup and bikeforums.net. His April Fool's Day articles were eagerly awaited by the online cycling community. On some groups, links to his site in response to technical questions were flagged with the abbreviation AASHTA (As Always, Sheldon Has The Answer).

OVERSEAS
In 2004, Sheldon was recognized for his contribution to cycling by the UK's Cyclists' Touring Club (CTC). Sheldon Brown wrote the "Mechanical Advantage" column for Adventure Cyclist magazine. His site is referenced in the technical library of the CTC.

DEATH
In August 2007 Sheldon was diagnosed with primary progressive multiple sclerosis. After losing his ability to balance an upright bicycle to the disease, he was able to continue pedaling by using a recumbent tricycle. Sheldon died on February 3, 2008 after a heart attack.