I can think of many people who have achieved great things – people who have won Grammys, as we watched Adele sweep every category for which she was nominated last Sunday, or who have made our lives easier by some technology or invention. However, very few names come to mind when I think of people who have inspired – not just inspired me personally, but legions of people across the world.

Steve Jobs was one of them. So was Randy Pausch, and the incredible writer that shared Randy’s story in written form, Jeffrey Zaslow.

I read The Last Lecture several years ago, compelled to learn as much as I possibly could from Randy Pausch, after stumbling across his Last Lecture online, which the brilliant professor delivered to a packed auditorium at Carnegie Mellon in 2007. (To give you an idea of the lecture’s incredible influence and Pausch’s ability to inspire, the YouTube video now has over 14 million views.)

The book was fantastic, which I credit not only to Pausch’s deep desire to live life to its fullest – and encourage others to do the same – but to the amazing writing by Wall Street Journal reporter and several time best-selling author Jeffrey Zaslow, who died this past Friday.

For quite a while, I considered The Last Lecture to be one of the most inspiring books I had ever read. It made me consider how little time we really have here and how important it is that we really live.

Upon hearing of Jeffrey’s death, I was reminded again of how fleeting our time on Earth is. I also thought back to The Last Lecture – how touching and inspiring it was. And then it struck me: we often consider books to be inspiring. After all, they have the ability to change the way we think and impact how we behave. But perhaps it’s not just the books that we should be considering, or even the ideas on their pages. Instead, it’s the people behind these incredible books – the authors whose skillful writing, powerful storytelling, and meaningful insights have us pulling the book off the bookshelf time and time again.

As family, friends, colleagues in the media, and anyone who has had the pleasure of reading one of Jeffrey’s books or columns mourns his death, his brilliant talent and ability to truly inspire has not been lost on anyone.

The beautiful thing, I’ve discovered, about the ability to inspire – particularly in written form – is that cannot be dimmed, even in death.

Our thoughts are with the Zaslow family and all those mourning his loss.