Forrest J. Ackerman, or Forry to most people that knew him, was a powerful and formative part of not only Hollywood’s early years but also to the burgeoning science fiction and fantasy literature market.  Mr. Ackerman passed away at the age of 92 yesterday.

His razor-sharp intellect, even up to the time of his death, gave us the term sci-fi, coined in 1954 while listening to the radio with his wife in the car.  His collection of horror, science fiction, and fantasy memorabilia and books, numbering in the tens of thousands, was one of the most complete anywhere.

The founder of Famous Monsters of Filmland carried the magazine for more than 49 years, a testament not only to its longevity and to his.  It is through his time there that he discovered Ray Bradbury, among other fledgling writers who have gone on to become amazing and prolific writers in their own right.

I won’t say much more excpet that he was an inspiration to me about how to stay afloat in the business.  Even during the lean times he never gave up that which he loved so well.  He was a veritable fountain of information for young writers and historians alike, and always took the time to talk and answer questions from anybody.

I only spoke to him once on the phone asking for some advice for my horror screenwriting book.  Even from that conversation (just 2 months ago) left my head spinning with more information than I could even digest.  The man was a dynamo with a photographic memory.  He will be missed.

It’s been a little while since I wrote anything, so I thought I’d start off with something about Sir Arthur C. Clarke, who was buried yesterday in Sri Lanka. As a young kid growing up, he was one of the authors that I would read voraciously from around age 10 on, starting with 2001: A Space Odyssey and Rendezvous with Rama. His style of writing included a lot of hard science-based material that at the time was somewhat prophetic. Both he and Isaac Asimov forged a new path with science fiction with many brilliant ideas that to this day seem almost unparalleled.

For the double-major in physics and mathematics, Sir Arthur predicted the artificial satellite and geosynchronous orbit for said satellites long before they were brought to reality. He worked on perfecting radar during the 1940s as an officer in WWII. And all the while he set about the physical work here on Earth, he was always looking up at the stars and dreaming.

This was a man I always admired as a personal hero of mine. Someone who wouldn’t let the confines of daily life (or post-polio syndrome) get the way of bringing his ideas to the masses. If it weren’t for him and a few others, I definitely would be somewhere else doing something that wouldn’t be half as interesting.

Whether or not you do like science fiction or Arthur Clarke, it’s good to have heroes. Eventually though, they do leave you. I have none left now and have reached middle age officially. This is not a complaint but merely an observation. Now that they are all gone, I can either choose to mourn them or carry on with the spirit of what they stood for.

I choose to do the latter. And so should you, fellow writers!