Forrest J. Ackerman, 86, is critically ill and not expected to recover. He
is in a hospital, very lonely, and, if anyone in the L.A. area has some
time, please please please visit him. Especially (please don't take this
wrong) if you're female. I met Forry about a year ago and the one woman in
our group got ALL his attention. Then, when we went to lunch, it happened
again. I think at his advanced age, and being a lonely old widower and all
that, I think he just wants to see a cute female face one more time before
he says goodbye. And if you can't visit him, send him a card (but not
flowers). Address is at the end of this message.
BTW, for those who don't know who Forrest J. Ackerman is, shame on you.
But, in any case: Forry was the first person to have a fan letter published
in a sci-fi magazine; he was the first person to wear a costume at a sci-fi
convention and thus single-handedly created the costume ball; Ray
Bradbury's first published short story was in Forry's fanzine; Forry was
the guy who founded the magazine "Famous Monsters" and he created
Vampirella; Forry has/had a huge collection of masks,
spaceships, props, etc. from early sci-fi films, including the sole
surviving Martian war machine from The War of the Worlds, and Bela Lugosi's
ring, which he still wears every day; he has appeared in dozens of sci-fi
films, and the glasses he wears every day are the ones he wore when he
played the president of the U.S. in "Amazon Women on the Moon." He also
coined the term "sci-fi." etc. etc. etc. He is truly a marvel to behold.
Forry is especially dear to me (though I only met him once) for a couple
reasons. I share his love for old sci-fi and horror movies and treasured
every copy of Famous Monsters I could get my hands on. Those grainy low-rez
contrasty black and white images surely taught me a lot about atmosphere
and composition and alien creature design and have surely influenced my
work more than I care to admit. Also, I run the Frank R. Paul tribute
website, and Forry runs FRP's estate, and Forry was most generous in
granting his permission for me to display FRP's art on my website. When I
finally did meet Forry I stunned him by showing him a copy of his "Amazing
Forries" magazine he had made up to celebrate his (60th)
birthday some 26-odd years ago - and the cover of that magazine had a
special painting FRP had done, with Forry inserted as an astronaut meeting
a strange insectoid alien. When I showed him the magazine - which I found
on eBay after months of searching - Forry was stunned, absolutely stunned
and screamed out, "Where did you FIND that?!?!" That was sweet.
---
This is from Locus Online:
Long-time fan, collector, writer, and anthologist Forrest J Ackerman is
critically ill and is not expected to recover. He is at Kaiser Permanente
Hospital in Hollywood (Sunset Blvd. at Vermont), in Building H, Room 474A,
which is in I.C.U. Actress
Julie Sands, in a letter forwarded by Bev Vincent of Cemetery Dance
magazine, writes
"It was very disquieting to discover not many of Forry's friends have
visited and he is very lonely. He is paralyzed except for the ability to
move his head, his speech is very sparse, but he is cognizant. In fact he
let me know even at his age he was able to see my cleavage very
well--lol. He cannot receive flowers, but letters, visits (even by
non-family members--he really has no family), phone calls and cards are
appreciated.
"As you know Forry has touched many of us in the entertainment industry and
the creative arts. I know I would not be doing a movie as a horror vixen
w/Robert Englund had it not been for Forry--I would have stuck to things
like Shakespeare (oh Forry, what did you do??? ;) )"
Forry's address is:
Forrest J. Ackerman
c/o Kaiser Permanente Hospital
Building H, Room 474A
4747 Sunset Blvd.
Hollywood 90027
