I heard that news this morning, we're actually putting up a "tribute to shawn" on guitariste.com, the french site I'm contributing to as a teacher.
Not only Shawn was the fastest guitarist alive, he also was one tasty player, songwriter, and human being.
I had paid quite a lot of money when I was 17 to buy both his REH tapes, and a LOT of music I now play is inspired by this great man.
He made me check out some Art Tatum, made me discover the Mahavishnu Orchestra, and many others things he carried along as his influences...
One of the CD that I want most is his "Powers of ten" CD, one of the rarest CD ever released by a shredder. Along the way, while researching this CD, I picked hundreds of CDs, by great players and musicians. I have never seen him perform live, 2 days ago I was still talking about how sad it was that even though he was so talented, his music wouldn't make him rich enough to cure himself.
Rest in peace Shawn. We'll keep playing down here, until we meet...