George R.R. Martin has been unstinting in his thanks to Robert Jordan for his support for the series (including providing the key blurb which helped secure a great number of readers at the start of the series), and Jordan has been equally-unstinting in his praise for GRRM’s work. So, we are saddened to report that all those foolish rumors of the past have now come to pass, as Robert Jordan himself writes to Locus magazine to report that he has been diagnosed with a rare, likely-terminal blood disease. All the details can be found in the linked letter.
Our thoughts are with Mr. Jordan, his wife, and his family. We hope he gets the 30 years he wants so as to be able to write all the stories he wishes to write.