Renowned British author and creator of the comical fantasy series Discworld, Terry Pratchett died yesterday at the young age of 66.

He was first published in 1971 with The Carpet People, which could be considered the predecessor to his most famous series Discworld, first hitting the shelves in 1983 with The Colour of Magic. Pratchett went on to write around 40 stories based in this world. His fantasy world was often much more, a satire of the elements of the genre it also made comment on many of the absurdities of modern British life.

Since being diagnosed with Early-onset Alzheimer’s in 2007, he became an advocate for dementia research, even meeting with then prime minister Gordon Brown to discuss increases in funding.  He was also an advocate for assisted suicide – a term he despised, but a choice he felt anyone with terminal illness should have available to them. In 2011 he presented a BAFTA winning documentary on the subject.

Pratchett was not afraid of technology, having embraced computers from the early 80’s and using whatever technologies he could as soon as they became available. His twitter feed is testament to this. His death on March 12 were announced via this very medium, in true Pratchett style with a quote from his recurring Discworld character Death.

Sir Terry left early to avoid the rush.