I greatly mourn Cary's passing. It's been a few years since we talked with one another, but during the early years of the Macintosh, we ran into each other frequently at trade shows and developers conferences, and we would almost always take some time to share observations and insights--Cary's usually being more cogent and informed than mine. One of his great skills was cutting to the heart of the matter, asking the most critical unasked question, "But what about....?" And he was a technical author par excellence; The Apple Macintosh Book, written in the early days of the personal computer industry press, set a standard for content and presentation that few works since (including, regretfully, my own) have lived up to.
But with all his brilliance, knowledge, and talent, Cary remained unassuming, avoiding the excesses of ego and self-importance that often afflicted computer pundits, especially back in those early days. Every now and then, a flash of impatience would show through, not from arrogance but (I suspect) from wondering why it took everyone one else so long to see what he already saw so clearly. But he would just purse his lips a bit, look off to one side, and and then go on to the next subject.
Our industry, and the world as a whole, could use more people like Cary Lu. It is sad that we now have one less.