Forrest J. Ackerman RIP

[bigknif]

He will definitely be missed! Few people have the love and passion for their hobbies and interests that he had. He was a great inspiration to many.

We have a piece up now at SciFi Japan. There is also a link at the bottom of the article to tributes written by the staff.

http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2008/12/05/forrest-j-ackerman-1916-2008/

Bob

[avenger]

I never got the chance to meet Forry as some of you did ,I guess I always thought there would be time.I wrote him this past summer and he signed a card and a video cover for me.
I sent him a thank you and later when he became ill,a card.
But I will always regret never having met this man who led such an interesting life and had such
passion for the life he led.
I hope he is with Wendayne and his friends,Lon,Bela and Boris.
May God rest his soul.

[CreepysFan]

Terry, i request that the photo of Forry which now graces the UMA Home Page remain there permanently.  The embodiment of us all... His welcoming image should be the first thing anyone who visits the UMA sees upon entering.
                                                                                                                               Mike G

Terry, I would like to second Mike's request to have the photo of Forry to be made permanent.  You gave us this UMA family dear General, but as stated Forry was the "father" of our monster obssession.  He nurtured his " children" into fans who seek out places like the UMA.  He fed our obssession through Famous Monsters, and provided a constant supply of monsters for us.  Without him we may have turned out like so many others, who mearly watch a monster movie and then move on and forget it.  I would like to second Mike's "Permanent Tribute" idea.

[drmonster]

I had a thought tonight and wanted to share with this group as I did with the karloff group on yahoo.
I wrote a letter to Entertainment Weekly asking that Forry be recoginzed in their magazine as he had led so many of the people involved in the entertainment industry to the field.
Their email is ew_letters(*at*)ew.com
I hope Time, People  etc will also honor Forry somehow too.
I am finding some comfort reading these posts and would appreciate any information be posted on any media or news mentions in the forthcoming weeks.
Bye for now Forry.
Dustin
ackerfan

[mike c]

I'd like to third Gasport and Creepysfan's motion to keep Forry on the homepage.

God, I just don't even know what to say. I knew this was coming sooner than later, but still... you never really prepare for this sort of thing, do you?

I keep trying to come up with something, NOT to be clever, but just to say something that could even remotely express with any accuracy just what I've always felt for that crazy ol' fella, and how his passing affects me now.
I guess the depth of my regard and love for our Uncle in monsterdom is only exceeded by my inability to express it properly.

Uncle Forry...
I am sad you're gone... but--
I am SO GLAD you were here!

4E 4EVER.

Mike C.

[Crazy1van]

No one individual did more to promote the genre.  He was the single greatest MonsterKid of all time.  I never had the pleasure of meeting him, but I'm proud to stand among friends in his shadow.

[MonsterArt]

Twice now I have attepted to express my feelings about this great man in this folder, only to have my browser crash before I could post them. So this time I'm going to post a few images and let them speak for the crying I have done today...

Me, Forry and Terry pace at my monster art gallery show in 2006.



My very last Forry autograph, the one that means the most, as he signed the guestbook for the gallery show...



Chuck Williams, Forry, Danny Roebuck, me and Bob Burns, from a wonderful afternoon I will treasure forever...



And the last drawing of my dear Uncle, rendered in crayon...



Goodbye my source of inspiration and enthusiasm since I was nine years old. I love you, Uncle Forry.

[Ignatius Stone]

A legend passes. R.I.P.

[BrotherD]

Even though we knew this was coming, I couldn't help but feel a wave of sadness crashing over me when I finally read those dreaded letters, "R. I. P."

But after a few moments, I remembered that this man gave us so much in his lifetime that we'll never forget him.

RIP 4E.

[MrDark1]

Everyone should head over to the Halloween Mask Assoc. site

and read the statements from James Warren, and Verne Langdon.

Both very touching, and beautifully written.

[mike c]

Words wouldn't come. So I yanked out my graphics tablet.

Long live 4SJ!

Mike C.

[kolchak]

RIP Uncle Forry

[BARON TIMOTHEUS BGG]

mike c writ:

... Words wouldn't come. So I yanked out my graphics tablet.
Long live 4SJ!
~ Mike C.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Brother, MIKE C.,
... A stunningly simple statement; composed, of Heart-felt LOVE, grief, loss, and, Undying Gratitude. You are, indeed, one, of FORRY'S KIDS!
... Thanks, for sharing this excellent Artwork... a picture, which, in this case, is worth far more, than a thousand words!
... And, a later Limerick, which I missed, including, with the others, about FORRY:
````````````````````````````````````````````````````
BARON TIMOTHEUS BGG Sergeant ***** Posts: 542
« Reply #405 on: Mon., Nov 24th, AD 2008; Today; 3:53:23 PM »
````````````````````````````````````````````````````
UNCLE FORRY has reached 92 years, young, today,
For his continued Health, we do, earnestly, pray,
He'll go, when he must,
Yet, in GOD, we trust,
That, until that Call comes, he'll happily stay!
````````````````````````````````````````
... Because, he knows he is LOVED, by so many MONSTER KIDS!
EXANIMO EVERNOW,
TIMMY & THE BARON & FRIENDS, GOO-O-OODD-D!, B.G.G.

[Jscareshock]

It is my contention that without the single- mindedness Forry lived by, there would be no UNIVERSAL MONSTER ARMY or any other organziation that would have brought us together. We would all still feel alone.

That is Forry's legacy.

Us!

Welll said, Daniel. Forry was truly unique.  He will be missed.

[MDG]

Someone on another board pointed out that although the LA Times obit says that Forry had "no surviving family members", really there are millions of us.