Aw man, this is like romance genre losing Jane Austen or thrillers losing Raymond Chandler. Except, we actually lived to see this.
But there shouldn't be too big wailings over this one. Arthur C. Clarke lived what could be called a full life and left behind a legacy that will probably last a lot longer than most of ours combined once it comes our time to part this world. He is one of those who truly earnt his rest.