Forrest J Ackerman, the demigod of sci-fi fandom, has ascended to another level of trans-galactic exploration, after 92 years on Starship Earth. Those of us in Los Angeles know Ackerman best through tours of his amazing home, the Ackermansion, where he would guide the public on tours of the world’s largest collection of sci-fi and fantasy memorabilia, including an astounding wealth of one-of-a-kind items. Ackerman was forced to sell most of his collection in 2002, retaining only those objects he simply could not part with. Without going too far off topic, I wish there had been as much public interest and passion about keeping that collection in Los Angeles and together as there seems to be about MOCA’s permanent collection. Sci-fi was always pop art, art for the people, and Ackerman was that bridge between creator and the public that opened up whole worlds of ideas to a whole world of people.
The LA Times obit also mentions something I never knew, that Ackerman edited the military paper at Fort MacArthur, which is now Angels Gate Park, where my office is, during WWII. Everything’s connected, I guess.
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