RIP Forrest J. Ackerman...

[Mike70]

sad news this. ol' forrest was one of the true icons of scifi/horror. the old dude was 92 though. The Associated Press reports that Forrest J Ackerman, whose Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine made him one of the most important figures in the realms of horror, science fiction and fantasy, died yesterday at his home in Los Angeles of heart failure, at the age of 92. He had been in ill health for some time, and over the past month had begun saying his goodbyes to his many friends in the world of the fantastic.

[Kaos]

I have been sadly awaiting this news. They did a good article about Forry in Rue Morgue last month. I met him in 1998 at the Monster Bash convention in Pittsburgh.

[Yojimbo]

Damn, this news really saddens me. I visited Forry at his "Forrymansion" in the Los Feliz are of Los Angeles many times - it was just a few miles from where I live. A few years back, I remember hearing that his health had turned, and that they moved him out of his large house in Los Feliz to a small bungalow nearby and had liquidated much of his very large collection. Apparently he continued to let people come by his bungalow where he still conducted truncated tours of his impressive- albeit smaller - collection. "Dr. Acula" as he called himself was a great guy with a lot of knowledge of film and literature. In fact, last year my wife and I named our pit bull puppy "Forry" after Ackerman. My condolences go out to his family. Forrest Ackerman, you were one of a kind, and you will be missed. Rest In Peace, sir!