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The comedian, whose genius won him Comedy Central's Greatest Stand-Up Artist of All Time (2004), passed away from a heart attack on December 10, 2005, after 19 years of suffering from multiple sclerosis and 25 years after barely escaping self-immolation when he set his home afire while freebasing on cocaine. Timing for Giant founder (October 2004)/ president Jamie Hooper was not good, because the February/March issue had editorially closed with Pryor's I ain't dead yet...! (left) in full display. "We were lucky," Hooper tells min. "The page signature with the Pryor story had not yet been printed, and we were able to substitute it with the Greatest of all time (right) tribute to him. Our original purpose was to introduce younger readers to Pryor by highlighting his work. Photograph of him, taken last spring at his Encino, Calif. home, was sad and compelling."