Famous Monsters of Filmland<\/a> Magazine, not to mention its heart and soul.\u00c2\u00a0 His playfulness appeared in its pages as cheesy puns and tongue-in-cheek captions.<\/p>\nHe often signed his editorials as Dr. Acula.\u00c2\u00a0 Readers addressed him as FJA, Forry, 4E, the Ackermonster, and many other goofy epithets.\u00c2\u00a0 He embraced them all.\u00c2\u00a0 His knack for cheesy puns and wordplay was infectious.<\/p>\n
He first coined the term “sci-fi,” so the AP headline is apt on so many levels.\u00c2\u00a0 People can’t decide whether it became a benefit or a detriment to science fiction.\u00c2\u00a0 The only certainty in its issue is that he said it with genuine affection.<\/p>\n
The bottom line:\u00c2\u00a0 Forry was the ultimate fan.\u00c2\u00a0 He might not be the reason why people invented the term “Big-Name Fame,” but he’s the reason why people still use it. Forry was a model citizen, a grand master in fanboy circles.\u00c2\u00a0 He represented what fandom at its best.\u00c2\u00a0 He was warm, courteous, playful, and generous.<\/p>\n
Spending decades collecting tons of sci-fi and horror memorabilia, he didn’t simply horde his treasure trove.\u00c2\u00a0 He opened his home and shared them with strangers from all over the world.<\/p>\n
He was a friend and idol to millions — writers, artists, filmmakers, musicians, starry-eye nobodies.\u00c2\u00a0 Forry treated them all the same…like family.<\/p>\n
I’ve bumped into him once or twice at conventions, on my way to this or that.\u00c2\u00a0 And he was doing the same… well, mostly the same.\u00c2\u00a0 I was in the company of one pretty lady.\u00c2\u00a0 Forry was always surrounded by at least four of them.\u00c2\u00a0 (Who says fanboys don’t get any?)\u00c2\u00a0 But each time we passed each other, he’d light up, extend a big warm hand, and beam out with “Hi<\/strong><\/em>, good to see<\/em><\/strong> you!”<\/p>\nForry was Santa Claus, Dr. Frankenstein, and Hugh Hefner all rolled into one.\u00c2\u00a0 He delighted in the dark, revelled in the light… and always seemed to know your name.<\/p>\n
He’s gone now.<\/p>\n
Does Halloween seem darker every year?\u00c2\u00a0 Does every winter seem colder?<\/p>\n
No… no, I can’t afford to play that game.\u00c2\u00a0 And neither can you, friend.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, you too.\u00c2\u00a0 The word “friend” has been overused, but Forry Ackerman proved in his life that it can hold a multitude of real human warmth every time the word is spoken.<\/p>\n
A toast to Forry.\u00c2\u00a0 The best fiend you could ever want.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We interrupt the long wait between Afterhell episodes to mourn the passing of an icon. AP: Sci-Fi’s Grand Old Man, Forrest J Ackerman, dies Forrest Ackerman was known by many while serving many roles, under many names. \u00c2\u00a0 He was the editor of the Famous Monsters of Filmland Magazine, not to mention its heart and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-offtopic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.afterhell.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.afterhell.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.afterhell.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.afterhell.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.afterhell.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=115"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.afterhell.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116,"href":"http:\/\/www.afterhell.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115\/revisions\/116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.afterhell.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.afterhell.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.afterhell.com\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}