After battling a rare form of spinal cancer for years, author Stephen Beirne passed away this week.

In 2008, HarperCollins and the Make-A-Wish Foundation teamed up to help 17-year-old Beirne achieve his “perfect wish”–to publish his novel, November Reign. Former GalleyCat editor Ron Hogan wrote about the inspiring story when the novel was published.

Here’s more about the remarkable story: “You see, word of Beirne’s wish came to the Learned Owl Book Store in Hudson, Ohio, and from there to Denise Dolence, a creative director at HarperCollins. Dolence rallied the troops, with more than 20 publishing industry professionals donating their time to shepherd November Reign through every stage of publication, from copyediting to cover design to the printing of a 3,000-copy first edition. All this summer, the book has been available for sale exclusively at the Learned Owl, and Beirne is donating all the proceeds back to Make-A-Wish.”