Thank you for the backup link! I hadn't known he had passed, and I didn't expect the link to fail. I first read the story back in 2008 or so, and it's been one of those works that lodged itself in my mind so it's sad to hear he died.

Worth knowing how he died and more about his life: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Brain

Goodness, what a find! Same here.-