The world grew just a bit dimmer and sadder today with the passing of Tom Terrell, a gifted writer and — more importantly — one of the sweetest, most loving human beings it has ever been my privilege to encounter. Tom left us this morning after a long battle with cancer.

A lot of folks were pulling for Tom with good vibes and donations; a benefit concert held in September 2006 here in New York featured performances by Angelique Kidjo, Butch Morris, Coati Mundi, Greg Osby, Kenny Barron, Meshell Ndegeocello, Vernon Reid and others. I wish there was more we could have done, but Tom let everyone know how much it was appreciated.

I hadn’t seen or heard from Tom in more than a year when today’s news arrived, and I’d give a lot to experience just one more of his warm hugs. You can get some sense of Tom’s spirit in a PopMatters column he wrote after attending the funeral of his aunt, jazz icon Shirley Horn, in April 2006, and in a passage from an unfinished memoir on his blog. Tom’s college buddy, photographer Jeff the Purple, remembers him here.

Update: Anastasia also remembers those hugs, and — like Phil Freeman in a comment below — cites Tom’s liner notes for Sony’s On the Corner box set.