James Oliver Rigney, Jr, better known as Robert Jordan -- possibly the most prolific fantasy author of this era -- has finally left this world to the great beyond.
He died on Sunday, 16 September 2007 of complications due to cardiac amyloidosis.
He did not complete his final novel, but it has been reported that he left notes for his family so that the remainder of the book can be ghostwritten and published posthumously, if they so choose. This book would bring the Wheel of Time series to a final conclusion.
George R.R. Martin has posted about this on his blog, and there is more information on Mr. Rigney's own website.
http://grrm.livejournal.com/21250.html
http://www.dragonmount.com/RobertJordan/