Forrest J Ackerman, writer-editor who coined 'sci-fi,' dies at 92

[laststeamtrain]

Forrest J Ackerman, writer-editor who coined 'sci-fi,' dies at 92

The Los Angeles native influenced young fans with his Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine and spent a lifetime amassing a vast collection of science fiction and fantasy memorabilia.

By Dennis McLellan
December 6, 2008

Forrest J Ackerman, who influenced a generation of young horror-movie fans with Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine and spent a lifetime amassing what has been called the world's largest personal collection of science-fiction and fantasy memorabilia, has died. He was 92.

Ackerman, a writer, editor and literary agent who has been credited with coining the term "sci-fi" in the 1950s, died Thursday of heart failure at his home in Los Angeles, said John Sasser, a friend who is making a documentary on Ackerman.

As editor of Famous Monsters of Filmland, Ackerman wrote most of the articles in the photo-laden magazine launched in 1958 as a forum for past and present horror films.

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http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-ackerman6-2008dec06,0,7179199.story?track=rss
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forrest_J_Ackerman

[old mark]

1. I loved that mag in high school - spent a lot of time studying it

rather than school work.
Farewell, Ackermonster.
Thanks for a lot of fun.
92 years is a good ride.
mark

[Norrin Radd]

2. To the stars, Forry.

[Lautremont]

3. I would love to have visited the Ackermansion in its prime.

It's sad that Forry died before he could wish us all a Marrowy Ghostmas and a Happy Grue Year, but now that he has departed Horrorwood, Karloffornia, and rests in Prince Sirki's embrace, perhaps he's doing it from afar.

[Forkboy]

4. I just found this out earlier today.

As someone might guess with the Godzilla avatar I sport, ole Forry played a big role in my childhood reading and imagination. I bought every issue of Famous Monsters... (to my mother's chagrin and my father's amusement) when it came out and poured through it numerous times, absorbing any and all information (especially the stuff about our favorite big angry lizard). His love for the stuff he covered was infectious.

As Sci-Fi seems to more and more be taking itself either too seriously, or not seriously enough (hello Sci-Fi channel), Forrest was that perfect balance between reference for the genres and a knowing wink to how silly it could be, too.

To the stars, Forry! :toast:

[shadowknows69]

5. The all Godzilla issue was better than a Playboy to my young eyes.

No, I didn't masturbate to it. Well maybe mentally in a way.B-)

[Forkboy]

7. LOL...I hear that.

I wish I still had mine. :(

[swimmernsecretsea]

6. I was able to meet him when I was in my late teens, in 1977.

He was the close friend of a woman whom I took writing classes with, in an accelerated learning program while in High School. He graciously allowed us into his home, and gave us a full tour, bringing us face to face with cinematic history. At the time, Star Wars was breaking box office records, and everyone seemed to think Star Wars was where Science Fiction and Fantasy had begun. I had to admit to quite a bit of naiveté, partly due to my being young, but also because I'd never had the chance to encounter such a world. It truly was a wondrous visit. His wife Wendayne, used to strangers marching through her home, was exceptionally sweet and kind to us, a gathering of high school students. It was a life-changing experience, and I truly mean this.

He was an intelligent, interesting conversationalist, who took time out of the tour to patiently explain his own history with memorabilia and his love of the literary genre. In his own young adulthood, it was almost considered a mental illness to appreciate what we take for as commonplace now, and at the time in the late Seventies, a personal computer was a far-away dream. Now, virtually everyone I know carries a computer with more computational skill than anything around at the time, and makes phone calls on it.

I met him again twenty years later, and he not only remembered our visit, but my name, and some things we'd talked about. He didn't have a great memory, just paid attention closely and interestedly with whom he spoke to. I am very sad to see this unique personality gone from our world.

I am forever in his debt for allowing us all the concept of being able to dream, and dream big.

I am so very sad we've lost this gentleman, and he was indeed one in the sense of the word that means much. He is probably having a conversation with H.G. Wells right now. Goodbye, Mr Ackerman.

[Forkboy]

8. Awesome post and story.

By all accounts he was a hell of a guy. Your story seems to fit right in with many of the others I've been reading.

I know for me, he represents a part of my childhood that I still haven't let go of. And I hope, like Forrest, that I never do. :)