It's terribly sad when such great minds are taken relatively early from such horrible diseases.
He seems like someone who always made the best of any situation. After a stint in prison, I'm sure he just wanted to keep doing his best, which led him towards things that weren't as controversial. Either way, we all have plenty to learn from his works.
My first introduction to Kevin Mitnick was an episode of The Screen Savers where he was first allowed to have internet back and they made a whole big to-do about what he was going to visit first… memories!