I heard of this. It is very sad to lose someone of his stature. He was a victim but also a celebrity. But also he was a brilliant mathematician. We cannot afford to lose such people before their time.

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Still officially AGA 5d but I play so irregularly these days that I am probably only 3d or 4d over the board (but hopefully still 5d in terms of knowledge, theory and the ability to contribute).

They say that the brightest flame burns quickest, and when it comes to genius, it is very often true. Maybe there is some cosmic scorekeeper who limits how much you can accomplish in your life. Once you reach your quota watch out! That could be why pretty much no one after Beethoven could write more than nine Symphonies. By this logic, the true secret to longevity is advanced laziness,, which I have to say sounds pretty attractive.

Not to make less of the tragedy, but I think he was 80?

He was 86, her wife (who also died in the car crash) 82. I guess DrStraw points at the reason of death (car accident) and not the age (reaching 86 is quite some age)

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Geek of all trades, master of none: the motto for my blog mostlymaths.net

He was fortunate to have lived long enough to receive not just his Nobel, but also the Abel Prize, which I'd suspect is something he'd personally have regarded even more highly.