I've recently read an intriguing book called Zen Computer, by Philip Toshio Sudo. Just as I finished it I discovered that Philip had died of cancer only a few days before, at the age of 42. He was also the author of the wonderful Zen Guitar, which I really enjoyed. He had an interesting way of writing. He'd collect quotations from various sources, and thread his own connections between them. And he'd do this in such a way as to illuminate his main interest, which was exploring life in the modern world from a Zen Buddhist perspective.

He was one of those rare writers who could accurately describe the world as you know it, but from an unexpected, unexplored angle. I like that, and I find it useful. It's also the sort of thing that I appreciate more as I've gotten older, perhaps because it becomes harder to summon the energy to find other ways of looking at things. Occasionally I found the quotations overshadowing his own writing, but perhaps that's because he had such superb taste in quotations. I was intrigued by his work, and I'm saddened that he's no longer with us.