Sad indeed--just days ago I was proposing writing a paper specifically because it seemed he'd enjoy it!
I myself was in the midst of writing Martin a long-overdue fan letter, explaining the difference he'd made in my life. I finished the letter a week ago, but decided to hold off on sending it until May 28 (so that I could give him the link to a video of a a lecture I'll be giving this Friday). When I made this decision, I even thought to myself "The guy is 95 years old, so there's a chance he could die in the coming week", but I figured it was worth the risk. Now I regret the decision, though it probably wouldn't have made any difference; I don't think he would have been able to read the letter, let alone reply. I suspect now that he was ill for some months -- otherwise I'm sure he would have weighed in with his views on Melanie Bayley's recent claims about there being a secret mathematical agenda in Lewis Carroll's "Alice" books. One way Gardner affected my life is by letting me know that people like Ron Graham, Persi Diaconis, and John Conway existed. They were role models for me before I even met them. And Piet's Hein's grook THE ETERNAL TWINS Taking fun as simply fun and earnestness in earnest shows how thoroughly thou none of the two discernest. has long been a motto of mine. I'd say "So long, Martin, wherever you are!", except that if there's an afterlife with Internet access, I'm sure he's much too busy working out the philosophical impact of life after death to have time for lesser matters. :-) Jim Propp