Thanks for sharing this sad news, Rich.
While I never had the pleasure of meeting John I agree he was a great automotive author. For those who aren't aware of him John Lamm was a long-time contributor to Road & Track magazine and more recently wrote for Automobile magazine. He also had a keen eye as an automotive photographer.
Here's a short biography of John taken from the Revs Institute website:
John Lamm started his automotive journalism career in 1965 as a racing photographer for Autoweek magazine. After a tour in Vietnam, he joined Motor Trend in 1969, then Road & Track in 1975, where he worked for 37 years. He has also written for Car and Driver and Automobile magazines. Credits include 10 books and Lamm has been honored with the International Motor Press Association’s Ken Purdy and the Motor Press Guild’s Dean Batchelor awards for writing. Lamm’s photo archives include hundreds of thousands of images ranging from an 1893 Benz Victoria to many of the latest automobiles. He is on the organizing committee for the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion and been a judge at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance for two decades. Lamm lives in San Clemente, California with his wife, Scheri.
-Rich