(WGHP) — An icon of American filmmaking has passed away, his family shared on social media. "It is with deep regret that we, his family, announce the passing of the man and the artist, David Lynch. We would appreciate some privacy at this time. There’s a big hole in the world now that he’s no longer with us. But, as he would say, 'Keep your eye on the donut and not on the hole,'" they wrote on Facebook. Deadline describes Lynch as a "visionary outsider" who garnered multiple Academy Award nominations over his decades in Hollywood, and helmed the acclaimed cult classic Showtime show "Twin Peaks," the sequel film and its subsequent revival in the 2010s. "Lynch was a onetime artist who broke through in the 1970s with the surreal 'Eraserhead' and rarely failed to startle and inspire audiences and peers in the following decades," The Associated Press wrote of Lynch. "His other credits included the crime story 'Wild at Heart,' winner of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival; the biographical drama 'The Elephant Man' and the G-rated, straightforward 'The Straight Story.'" "Lynch was a Missoula, Montana, native who moved around often with his family as a child and would long feel most at home away from the classroom, free to explore his fascination with the world. He had an early gift for visual arts and a passion for travel and discovery that led to his enrollment in the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the beginning of a decadelong apprenticeship as a maker of short movies," the Associated Press continued. Lynch was 78 years old. His cause of death was not immediately available but he had recently been diagnosed with emphysema. As he wrote in Twin Peaks, "One day the sadness will end."