OMG. I too am shocked. He’s been one of the few current pro reviewers whose opinion was of any interest to me. His writing was full of humour and wisdom, and he was just a damned good writer. I anticipate his disappearance from the mag will greatly reduce the quality of it's content. In my estimation he's irreplaceable, though I know Herb Reichert will try his darndest.
He and I to a large extent shared the same taste in music (he loved and played Bluegrass), and the equipment with which to reproduce it (tubes, the Quad ESL, British phono designs). RIP, brother.