Stan Winston died at his home in Malibu surrounded by family on Sunday evening after a seven-year struggle with multiple myeloma All of us at SPACE feel deep sadness to have lost the man who brought magic to so many movies.

Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.

I never had the opportunity to meet Stan Winston, but other members of the SPACE team met him when we presented him with the Special Achievement SPACEY Award in 2006.

I was a huge fan of his work, though. How could you not be? He was a gifted storyteller, and, too me, he had the heart of an illusionist.

He was a master of SFX, and for me he was the person who understood how to 'bridge' various special effects so the audience couldn't tell what 'trick' made the scene work.

He was a gifted engineer and designer as well, and he kept refining his craft.

Stan was greatly revered in the industry, known for taking the effects production out of the dingy warehouse and into the immaculate studio. He is also known for the one-man campaign that saw makeup artistry become a category of its own at the Oscars.

His legacy is enormous- he changed his industry- and leaves behind an impressive body of work: Aliens. Terminator. Terminator 2. Terminator 3. Jurassic Park. Edward Scissor Hands, and most recently, Iron Man.

He also won three Oscars(tm) for visual effects.

I remember when Jon Favreau announced that Stan was going to work on Iron Man, and that was a moment when I knew the film was going to be special. Not only did Favreau understand that he needed a real suit, but he got a master to design and build it.

Here's to Stan Winston.

He made magic.