Of particular significance to me, given my career in VR, is that he was also the first to use the term "virtual reality" in science fiction in his 1982 novel The Judas Mandala.

More at Damien's Wikipedia page en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damien_...

Damien was well known in our futurist and transhumanist circles as the science fiction author and popular science writer who was the very first to explain the technological singularity to the masses in his 1997 book The Spike.

I just heard this sad news from Damien's wife and science-fiction co-author Barbara. He passed at age 81. May he rest in peace.

My heart overflows with gratitude for this blessing of finding such a wonderful life companion. I’m a bit surprised too that she still stands by me, because I’m not always the easiest person to live and work with.