>>Very sad. Terry Pratchett has given as much reading pleasure as any author I can think of, with the possible exception of Robert A. Heinlein.<<
Let us not forget the Good Doctor (Asimov).
I need to go back and reread the Discworld books. It has been a while...
I've always liked Asimov, one of the Big Three Golden Age science fiction writers (Asimov, Clarke, and Heinlein).
Heinlein's still the best, though...IMHO, of course :-)