The world greatest science fiction fan, Forrest J Ackerman, has finally lost his battle against old age and joined the great circle of fandom in the sky. Goodbye Forry, they sure don’t clone them like you anymore.
His family dropped SFcrowsnest.com a line to say that “Forrest J Ackerman, our favourite Uncle, has passed away at 11:58pm 4th December 2008.”
Forrest helped the early spread of science fiction fandom (he set up The Boys Scientifiction Club in 1930) and was also known as the editor and chief writer of the magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland, as well as an actor, the producer of Vampirella, and on-and-off scifi literary agent (repping Ed Wood).
Authors who belonged to his early SFF societies include Ray Bradbury, Robert A. Heinlein, Jack Williamson, Fredric Brown and Leigh Brackett.
Forry was also a board member of the Seattle Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame, where various items of his own extensive sci-fi collection are on display. He received a 1953 Hugo Award for No 1 Fan Personality which to date has never been re-awarded.
The inventor of the term sci-fi, he was also the brains behind the English translation of the German Perry Rhodan science fiction series.
Source: www.sfcrowsnest.com