John Hughes owned the 80s. What Judd Apatow is now, he was in 1985 with a string of comedic masterpieces which went on, in their own way, to define a generation. In 1991 he suddenly stopped directing movies and there was always this hope, faint hope, in the back of my head that maybe he’d get back to work eventually. Now that will never happen. TMZ is reporting that John Hughes is dead at the age of 59.

Details are still rolling in, but his death sounds unexpected and sudden. Apparently he suffered a heart attack while taking a morning stroll, in the midst of a trip to visit family in New York City.

Hughes leaves behind a legacy of incredible, game changing films. Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Planes, Trains & Automobiles. Has any one filmmaker ever directed such a string of instant classics? John Hughes did. He defined an entire generation and today film fans everywhere mourn with his family, at the passing of a giant.