Steve Silberman, the Wired magazine journalist and author of an influential book about autism, has died at 66, Salon reports.

Silberman, a New York native, was educated at Oberlin College and the University of California, Berkeley, where he studied with the poet Thom Gunn. A longtime fan of the Grateful Dead, he co-wrote a 1994 book about the band, Skeleton Key, with David Shenk.

He wrote for Wired for 20 years and in 2015 published NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity. The book explored the history of autism, diving into the careers of doctors Hans Asperger and Leo Kanner, arguing for the acceptance of people who have the developmental disorder.A critic for Kirkus wrote of the book, which won the Baillie Gifford Prize, “In the foreword, Oliver Sacks writes that this ‘sweeping and penetrating history…is fascinating reading’ that ‘will change how you think of autism.’ No argument with that assessment.”

Silberman’s admirers paid tribute to him on social media. On the platform X, Atlantic staff writer Jennifer Senior wrote, “Dear God no. @stevesilberman was a generous and joyful advocate for the disabled, a man who genuinely changed the way our culture thinks. I reviewed his book, Neurotribes, in 2015 and was blown away. Everyone should order it to honor him—and all humans.”

And writer Sarah Kurchak posted, “Steve Silberman was a writer for whom autistic people were never just a subject. We were his peers and his friends. Many autistic writers-including me-owe a great deal to his support. He will be missed so much.”

Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.