Ad astra, Uncle Forry

Forrest J. Ackerman, the "First Fan" of science-fiction, is not long for this world. Forry helped start the first-ever "scientifiction" fanzine, he attended the first-ever science-fiction convention, he edited sci-fi magazines, and he's arguably done more than anyone -- honestly -- to help elevate the science-fiction genre and open it up, culturally, to as many people as possible. He's also got the largest collection of sci-fi memorabilia in the world.

He is 91. He is not expected to make it to his 92nd birthday at the end of this month.

I cannot even begin to tell you how sad this news is to me. He is a true legend and we shall never see the likes of him again.

(screaming from a movie geek)

I'm missing a W.C. Fields feature with Baby LeRoy (who Fields hated) at the Brattle tonight!

And it's not one that I've got on DVD!

Okay, okay, I'll be fine, taking deep breaths, deep breaths, deeeeeeep breaaaaaths. And I've got "The Old-Fashioned Way" on DVD and in that one Fields practically drop-kicks the kid and does the most juggling we'll ever get to see him do, so I can watch that whenever I'm feeling especially misanthropic.