Thursday 12 March 2015 16.21 GMT Last modified on Thursday 12 March 2015 17.03 GMT
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Sir Terry Pratchett, author of the Discworld comic fantasy series of novels, has died aged 66.
His publishers, Transworld, announced the news “with immeasurable sadness”. Managing director Larry Finlay, said: “The world has lost one of its brightest, sharpest minds.”
The author of more than 70 books died at his home “with his cat sleeping on his bed, surrounded by his family” earlier on Thursday.
Pratchett, who had early onset Alzheimer’s disease, leaves his wife, Lyn, and their daughter, Rhianna.
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He had, said Finlay, “enriched the planet like few before him”. He added: “All who read him know Discworld was his vehicle to satirise this world: he did so brilliantly, with great skill, enormous humour and constant invention.”
“Terry faced his Alzheimer’s disease (an ‘embuggerance’, as he called it), publicly and bravely. Over the last few years, it was his writing that sustained him. His legacy will endure for decades to come.”
Pratchett’s official Twitter account carried the news with a reference to the Discworld novels:
— Terry Pratchett (@terryandrob) March 12, 2015
AT LAST, SIR TERRY, WE MUST WALK TOGETHER.
He was diagnosed with PCA (posterior cortical atrophy), a progressive, degenerative condition involving the loss and dysfunction of brain cells, in 2007. He spoke openly about his condition and campaigned for greater awareness, battling it “with his trademark determination and creativity”, said Finlay.
He continued to write and completed his last book, a new Discworld novel, in the summer of 2014 before succumbing to the final stages of the disease.
Terry Pratchett in quotes: 15 of the best
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He was the UK’s bestselling author of the 1990s and sold more than 85m books worldwide.--
He says the gods like to see an atheist around. Gives them something to aim at.
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The Librarian dropped on him like the Descent of Man.
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Murder was in fact, a fairly uncommon event in Ankh-Morpok, but there were a lot of suicides. Walking in the night time alleyways of The Shades was suicide, asking for a short in a dwarf bar was suicide, you could commit suicide very easily if you weren't careful.
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One day a tortoise will learn how to fly.
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The shortest unit of time in the multiverse is the New York Second, defined as the period of time between the traffic lights turning green and the cab behind you honking.
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Cuius testiculos habes, habeas cardia et cerebellum
A few Discworld quotes. I could post hundreds.
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[About magic armor] Many an ancient lord's last words had been, "You can't kill me because I've got magic aaargh"
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The three rules of the Librarians of Time and Space are: 1) Silence; 2) Books must be returned no later than the date last shown; and 3) Do not interfere with the nature of causality.
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"The truth has got its boots on. It's about to start kicking."
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"In Om we have no word for slave," said Vorbis. "So I understand," said the Tyrant. "I imagine that fish have no word for water."
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DON'T THINK OF IT AS DYING, said Death. JUST THINK OF IT AS LEAVING EARLY TO AVOID THE RUSH.
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"Sodomy non sapiens," said Albert under his breath.
"What does that mean?"
"Means I'm buggered if I know."
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Sam Vimes could parallel process. Most husbands can. They learn to follow their own line of thought while at the same time listening to what their wives say. And the listening is important, because at any time they could be challenged and must be ready to quote the last sentence in full. A vital additional skill is being able to scan the dialogue for telltale phrases such as "and they can deliver it tomorrow" or "so I've invited them for dinner?" or "they can do it in blue, really quite cheaply."
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Sometimes the truth is arrived at by adding all the little lies together and deducting them from the totality of what is known.
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That was an important part of any game: always make it easy for people to give you money.
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"Why's it called Ming?" said the Archchancellor, on cue. The Bursar tapped the pot. It went *ming*.
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A marriage is always made up of two people who are prepared to swear that only the other one snores.
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YOU HAVE PERHAPS HEARD THE PHRASE THAT HELL IS OTHER PEOPLE?
"Yes. Yes, of course."
Death nodded. IN TIME, he said, YOU WILL LEARN THAT IT IS WRONG.
