The excellent writer Evan Hunter, probably best known under the name Ed McBain, passed away on July 6th aged 78.
Although Columbo only featured briefly in his career, and the two episodes that adapted his stories (No Time To Die and Undercover) are not exactly the most popular episodes of the show, he was one of the great popular writers of the last 50 years.
Another sad loss. There seems to be a stream of them lately.