Science fiction and game author Aaron Allston passed away on February 27 after suffering massive heart failure.  He was 53.
 
He started his career as a journalist, and worked for Steve Jackson Games in various positions on Space Gamer magazine.  He began designing RPG supplement for SJG on a freelance basis, and also freelanced for Hero Games.  In the mid-1980s he moved on to work for TSR, Inc on Dungeons & Dragons, and stayed there until the mid-1990s.  During this time he also co-wrote the PC computer game Savage Empire.  In all, Allston wrote or contributed to over 45 books for D&D, AD&D, Car Wars, Champions, Dying Earth, GURPS, Justice, Inc., and Rolemaster.  He was inducted into the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design (AAGAD) Hall of Fame in 2006.
 
He also wrote original fiction, and published his first novel Web of Danger in 1988, a game-based fiction supporting the Top Secret/S.I. game line for TSR.  In 1997, he began writing novels for the extended Star Wars universe, producing 13 novels and several short stories, the last of which was Mercy Kill in 2012.