James Oliver Rigby Jr., better known as fantasy author Robert Jordan, lost his battle with a rare form of cancer yesterday afternoon.  He was 59.

Rigby was best known for his long-running Wheel of Time series, which spanned eleven epic-length novels.  In addition, he wrote three novels under the name Reagan O'Neal and seven Conan novels.  He had planned many other books, including a prequel to the Wheel of Time books, and was working on the twelfth book in that series at the time of his death.  According to one fan website:

Jordan has been dictating outlines and plot lines and everything else related to the final book. He used the phrase "army of writers" to talk about the people that were converting those tapes into written form.

It would appear that the final book will still be published, I'm sure details regarding that will work themselves out.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, those who wish to may donate to the Amyloidosis Research Group at the Mayo Clinic:

Mayo Clinic of Hematology
Amyloidosis Research
200 First Street SW
Rochester, MN 55095
Direct link to donate is here.  (Please use the name James Rigby.)

"The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning." - Robert Jordan