Ackermonster No More

I just wanted to take a moment to observe the death last night of the legendary Forrest J. Ackerman. I'll keep this short, since there are a lot of other people out there who have a lot more to say about him than I, and a simple Google search would probably net you hundreds of tributes from people who actually knew him. To be honest, I have had very little direct exposure to his work, mostly due to the fact that his heyday occurred around the time that my parents were children. Why, then, am I even writing this?

Because, like all truly great men, his own actions are vastly outweighed by those of the people he inspired. Largely through his magazine, Famous Monsters of Filmland, he exposed an entire generation of writers and directors and special effects artists to the wonders of horror and sci-fi. In fact, he even coined the term "sci-fi."

Try to imagine a world without the accomplishments of the following (and this is a miniscule sample):

Ray Bradbury
Stephen King
Phil Tippett
Rick Baker
Joe Dante
John Landis
Tim Burton
Peter Jackson

It's not a world I would want to live in. It's what the world would look like without Forry Ackerman.

Forrest J. Ackerman was 92. He is survived by every fan of science fiction or horror in the world.