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Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI

The publishing industry has lost one of its greats.

We are saddened to report that American novelist, poet and One Life to Live guest star Peter Straub (Pete Braust) passed away on Sunday, September 4, in Manhattan, due to complications after breaking his hip. He was 79.

Daytime fans may recall that Straub made three appearances on One Life to Live from 2006 to 2009 in scenes with General Hospital’s Michael Easton, who, at the time, played Llanview’s John McBain. Peter was the former partner of John’s deceased father, Thomas McBain, and visited the Pennsylvania town to advise John on some of his criminal cases.

Easton posted a throwback photo of their characters on his official Facebook and shared, “My friend Peter Straub passed away on Sunday and I’m still numb and I wish I had the words to properly express what he meant to me.”

He went on to talk about how much Straub loved his wife and children and how being a brilliant writer “was good for all of us who loved his books.”

More: One Life to Live writer passed away

Easton and Straub went on to co-write The Green Woman back in 2011 and the ABC soap actor explained that “it was like going back to school and being taught by a master.” For those who follow Easton’s other work, he’s penned other graphic novels and of the different genres he stated, “Everyday seemed like a reminder of the Coleridge quote about the difference between a writer and a poet. A writer puts words in the right order and a poet puts the right words in the right order. Peter was poet.”

Looking back on Straub’s novels, Easton shared, “He told powerful stories that explored the potential for good and evil in all of us and when he wasn’t doing that, sometimes he was an actor.” During his time on One Life to Live, Easton recalled how Straub’s “face would light up” when people recognized him from his brief stints on the ABC soap.

He closed out his post by expressing, “He lives on, his work lives on but to those who knew him, that isn’t enough,” then shared a quote from Shakespeare before saying, “Goodbye, my good friend. I miss you.”

The best-selling horror writer penned numerous novels including Ghost Story, The Hellfire Club and Black House and collaborated with Stephen King on The Talisman and will be missed by so many.

Soaps.com sends his wife Susan, their children and his friends and family our deepest condolences.

Join us as we pay tribute to other soap stars we have lost this year by viewing of photo gallery below.