12月5日
The Famous Monster Has Left The Building, Forest J Ackerman: 1916-2008
A huge part of Hollywood has left us. He lived long and famously but he will
be forever missed:
"92-year-old science-fiction fan Forest J. Ackerman - founder of Famous Monsters of Filmland- died last night, just before midnight. Ackerman became famous as the world’s number one fan of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror films; at a time when the genre was considered beneath contempt by the mainstream media, he started the very first magazine devoted to the genre, Famous Monsters, which became famous for offering a cornucopia of rare and amazing still photographs, usually captioned with Ackerman’s infamous bad puns (e.g., a shot of a robot being repaired in FUTURE WORLD was accompanied by this bon mot: 'First a Clockwork Orange. Now a Clockwork Lemon,' a joke so weak that Ackerman felt the need to explain that the robot kept malfunctioning). Fortunately, the silliness became part of the magazine’s charm, and eager monsters kids were thrilled to have a publication that filled with interviews and articles about everything from Dracula to Godzilla."
Read more
here. And Rest in Peace Mr. Ackerman. You made this town a better place, you cared about its history, and you inspired others to realize why your kind of passion is so important in this often, all too shallow, of-the-now industry.
--posted by Kim