He Pingping, who held the Guinness Book of World Records title for the world’s smallest man, has died at the age of 21 in Italy.

Pingping, of Wulanchabu, China, stood just 29 inches tall when he was measured by Guinness in March of 2008. The young man’s family in China expressed shock at his sudden death, saying that he’d contacted them from Italy in recent days to say he was homesick:

“We just did not expect this bad news,” his sister He Lihua told AFP over the phone from Baotou, a city in the northern region of Inner Mongolia where he lived.

“Pingping went to Italy… and he called us every day saying he wasn’t eating well and that he missed us.”

Pingping’s sister He Lihua said her brother had been filming a show in Italy and showed no signs of ill health before he left on the trip:

“Unfortunately we cannot go there and we can only wait for his body to come back,” He said, adding that the family would be asking the Italian company behind the television show to pay for the funeral.

Guinness World Records released a statement following Pingping’s death:

“I had the pleasure of meeting Pingping back in 2008 in Inner Mongolia,” said Guinness World Records Editor-in-Chief Craig Glenday, who was the first to confirm Pingping’s status as the world’s shortest man. “From the moment I laid on eyes on him I knew he was someone special – he had such a cheeky smile and mischievous personality, you couldn’t help but be charmed by him. He brightened up the lives of everyone he met, and was an inspiration to anyone considered different or unusual”. Glenday continued ‘Pingping showed us that, despite the challenges we face, we can still make the most out of life, and for such a small man, he made a huge impact around the world. Everyone at Guinness World Records is very saddened by the loss of such a wonderful, engaging, fascinating character – he will be greatly missed and we would like to offer our deepest condolences to his family and friends.”

A man named by the Guinness Book of World Records as being the world’s most litigious man has sued the publisher for giving him the title.

Jonathan “Johnny Sue-nami” Lee Riches of Lexington, Kentucky claims in his lawsuit that Guinness is planning to print false information about the number of lawsuits he has filed. Riches also objects to the names he is called by the publication, which include Lawsuit Zeus, The litigator crusader, the duke of lawsuits, Sue-per-man and the Patrick Ewing of suing.

According to The Spokesman-Review, Riches has previously tried to sue President George W. Bush, Somali pirates, Britney Spears, Martha Stewart, Plato, Nostradamus, James Hoffa, “Various Buddhist Monks,” the Lincoln Memorial, the Eiffel Tower and Three Mile Island.

It’s probably pertinent to note Riches current Lexington address: the Federal Medical Center, a medical facility for inmates, where he is receiving “treatment for mental-health problems.”

At last count, Riches is believed to have filed over 4,000 lawsuits.

Guidelines for the title were amended earlier this year, in order to ensure the highest level of accuracy in determining this category. All contenders to the Tallest Living Man title must now be measured in person by an official Guinness World Records adjudicator. As a result, Xi Shun, who lost the recognition last year to Stadnyk, is re-crowned in the 2009 edition of the Guinness World Records.

Guinness World Records crowned Stadnyk the world’s Tallest Living Man based on a statement provided by his medical practitioner and not by an official measurement by Guinness officials.

The company decided to tighten its rules and stipulate that a doctor’s testimony no longer suffices as evidence for any “tallest” or “shortest” claim. After repeated requests to measure Stadnyk in person went unanswered, Guinness World Records returned the title to Xi Shun in compliance with its new regulations.