Composers for movies and television, despite some degree of visibility, are not widely known for their work. But still have a largely unrecognized influence. I can see where his work would be a strong influence, and how his sudden premature death could leave an impact on you, given your personal affection for his work.
I've felt a similar personal loss in the deaths of a few creative people who similarly died tragically before their time, such as Brad Delp of the band Boston who committed suicide, and producer David Angel (of Cheers, Wings and Frasier tv series) who was killed on 9-11-2001.
