Forrest J Ackerman - RIP

Forrest J Ackerman has died at the age of 92. Probably best known as the founding editor of Famous Monsters of Filmland, Ackerman made his living as a literary agent, magazine editor and occasional actor.

I grew up loving monster movies and of course Famous Monsters of Filmland. Although it was chock full of movie stills, interviews with the folks behind those movies, and more -- it wasn't until I was in my late teens/early twenties that I discovered that nearly all of those things that I enjoyed about the magazine came from Forrest Ackerman. His collection of memorabiliai ncluded many original movie props, autographs, over 50,000 books and much, much more. He kept it all in his house. Fans were often invited in to hear classic anecdotes as they toured. Sadly, in his later years Mr. Ackerman was forced to sell off his collection piece by piece.

Mr. Ackerman is said to have discovered Ray Bradbury and to have coined the term "sci-fi." And while both of those are "definite claims to fame" -- I don't think that my childhood would have been as fun without Mr. Ackerman's influence on Famous Monsters of Filmland.

My thoughts and prayers go out to his fans around the world.