George Carlin, who had a history of heart trouble, went into St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica on Sunday afternoon complaining of chest pain and died of heart failure later that evening. His publicist, Jeff Abraham, broke the news.

We lost a great one.

No one saw it coming since he had performed as recently as last weekend at the Orleans Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas. George was known as a counterculture hero when he took his fight to say dirty words up with the supreme court in 1978 and won. “So my name is a footnote in American legal history, which I’m perversely kind of proud of,” he told Associated Press earlier this year.

When asked about death, George had this to say:

“‘Older’ sounds a little better than ‘old,’ doesn’t it? Sounds like it might even last a little longer. … I’m getting old. And it’s OK. Because thanks to our fear of death in this country I won’t have to die — I’ll ‘pass away.’ Or I’ll ‘expire,’ like a magazine subscription. If it happens in the hospital they’ll call it a ‘terminal episode.’ The insurance company will refer to it as ‘negative patient care outcome.’ And if it’s the result of malpractice they’ll say it was a ‘therapeutic misadventure.’”

He produced 23 comedy albums, 14 HBO specials, three books, a few TV shows and appeared in several movies. Quite a feat in its own right. He is revered and admired by comics all over the world and will always be known as one of the original kings of comedy. He was a ground breaker and has influenced many in the industry today. We lost a great man and a genius of a comedian. His words will live on forever and still ring true for years to come.

We will miss you.