Lloyd Alexander died yesterday at age 83.  His Chronicles of Prydain were some of the first fantasy books I read.  I devoured the entire series.  Then Disney came along and messed with it.  I was always thrilled that that did not become one of the Disney classics like Little Mermaid where my skin would have to crawl each time it was re-released on DVD. 

Alexander will be remembered fondly by many readers.  You can head to his amazing website about Prydain, the books and himself.