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Forrest J Ackerman
Dec. 5th, 2008 05:13 pmHe'd been literally on his deathbed for weeks, and there had been false reports of his demise, but now it appears he's really gone at the age of 92.
Forry was the first person ever to receive a Hugo. (He promptly gave it away.) The category, never repeated, was "#1 Fan Personality", and in 1953 nobody else was likely to win it. Forry was the compleat science fiction fan. He read everything even remotely related to science fiction that there was to read, he collected everything there was to collect, and he did everything in SF fandom that there was for a fan to do.
Everyone in fandom did that in those days, because there was so little SF to read and so little fan activity to partake of, people craved what there was all the more. But Forry was more dedicated than most. Science fiction was his religion, his sole interest. "Fandom is a way of life," as the saying went. It wasn't dedication alone that made him prominent, but it did make him pre-eminent in the 1930s to 50s.
Since everybody read everything in those days, there wasn't much differentiation between fans' specific interests. That changed in the 1960s, when the field began to grow. It was no longer possible to follow everything, and people began to specialize. It turned out at that point that what Forry Ackerman loved more than anything else was monster movies. He edited a magazine called Famous Monsters of Filmland and, while he continued collecting across SF, his most loving attention went to that area.
By the time I came around, Forry was rather peripheral to fandom as I came to know it. I did see him at conventions and chatted with him occasionally. But we didn't interact much, because he didn't participate in the fanzines I read, and despite his mammoth Kolektinbug he wasn't much obsessed by recounting fan history.
Forry contributed a lot to fandom, but I most cherish him for one thing: in his heyday, he was the most persistent punster fandom has yet produced. He came up with the single best - no, I mean worst - no, maybe I do mean best - pun that I have ever read. ( Continue, if you dare )
Forry was the first person ever to receive a Hugo. (He promptly gave it away.) The category, never repeated, was "#1 Fan Personality", and in 1953 nobody else was likely to win it. Forry was the compleat science fiction fan. He read everything even remotely related to science fiction that there was to read, he collected everything there was to collect, and he did everything in SF fandom that there was for a fan to do.
Everyone in fandom did that in those days, because there was so little SF to read and so little fan activity to partake of, people craved what there was all the more. But Forry was more dedicated than most. Science fiction was his religion, his sole interest. "Fandom is a way of life," as the saying went. It wasn't dedication alone that made him prominent, but it did make him pre-eminent in the 1930s to 50s.
Since everybody read everything in those days, there wasn't much differentiation between fans' specific interests. That changed in the 1960s, when the field began to grow. It was no longer possible to follow everything, and people began to specialize. It turned out at that point that what Forry Ackerman loved more than anything else was monster movies. He edited a magazine called Famous Monsters of Filmland and, while he continued collecting across SF, his most loving attention went to that area.
By the time I came around, Forry was rather peripheral to fandom as I came to know it. I did see him at conventions and chatted with him occasionally. But we didn't interact much, because he didn't participate in the fanzines I read, and despite his mammoth Kolektinbug he wasn't much obsessed by recounting fan history.
Forry contributed a lot to fandom, but I most cherish him for one thing: in his heyday, he was the most persistent punster fandom has yet produced. He came up with the single best - no, I mean worst - no, maybe I do mean best - pun that I have ever read. ( Continue, if you dare )
