Prof McInerny died Friday morning.  Considered by many (including me) to be one of the intellectual giants of our times, he was as well known for his fiction work (particularly the Father Dowling mysteries) as his philosophical work.  Regarding the latter, he was one of the most astute commentators around on St. Thomas Aquinas and his work in that area has been enormously influential.  Thomas Hibbs comments on his passing here.