It is with great regret I mark the death of Forrest J.Ackeman. Forry was an editor, collector, writer, journalist, actor, literary agent and through his groundbreaking magazine FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND was an inspiration to a whole generation. I don't propose to write a long tribute to the man as there will be many of those but Forry changed my life and the life of many of my friends by passing on his love of all things weird and fantastic in literature and the cinema. I was lucky enough to meet the great man in 1964 when we both attended the World Science Fiction Convention in London. A sad day for fans everywhere. Thanks for everything, Forry. RI.P. and Rise in glory!
1 comment:
I've been laid low for the last week or so and haven't been able to mark the passing of Uncle Forry on my blog. However, it was nice to see that Weaverman is holding the torch for us all. Thanks for the great words about the man.
Like many MANY others, I too was impacted in a major way by seeing my first FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND magazine as a kid. It's really impossible to explain to anyone today exactly what it meant to have a magazine featuring all those photos about the horror and science fiction genre. Both genres got little to no respect back then and if it wasn't for Forry there wouldn't have been ANY horror/science fiction fandom as we know it today. God knows what my first issue of FM was -- I can't remember -- but it was sometime in the early 70's, I'm sure. Since then I have collected many many issues and still love perusing them.
I have known for a while that Forry has been losing ground and was confined to his bed. By all accounts, he had made his peace and was ready to leave and was thankfully in little pain. Even though it comes as no surprise, the death of Forrest J. Ackerman is still a huge loss to us all.
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