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Forry Ackerman Dead At 92
rrohbeck was one of several readers to note the passing of Forrest J. Ackerman at the age of 92. Ackerman, who coined the term sci-fi in 1954, has been called the 'world's biggest fan.' Over a long career he acted as literary agent for Isaac Asimov, A.E. van Vogt, Hugo Gernsback, and L. Ron Hubbard; he published Ray Bradbury's first short story in a fan magazine in 1938. Ackerman wrote over 2,000 articles and short stories, including, oddly enough, lesbian fiction in the 1940s. In recent years, mounting health bills forced him to sell his home, the 'Ackermansion,' and most of the 300,000 items of memorabilia it stored.
So we can blame him for giving Hubbard his start? Not something I'd brag about. ;)
jX [ Make everything as simple as possible, but no simpler. - Einstein ]
lesbian fiction in the 1940s.
Um, link?
"Anyone who [rips a CD] is probably engaging in copyright infringement." - David O. Carson
Hey now, I've never read any of his "lesbian fiction" but it's *possible* it's not porn.
It might be unlikely for this case sure, but there are more than a few non-pornographic romance stories out there about two (or more!) women falling in love.
These stories might feature graphic sex, or subtle references to sex having happened, or no sex at all. ... That said, if you find the stories, gzip them up and upload them to some file host like rapidshare/megaupload please? =P I'd like to test my hypothesis that they're not pornographic.
He also wrote what has been reported to have been the first lesbian science-fiction story ever published, âoeWorld of Loneliness.â And under the pen name Laurajean Ermayne, he wrote lesbian romances in the late 1940s for the lesbian magazine Vice Versa. via http://larryfire.wordpress.com/2008/12/05/forrest-j-ackerman-writer-editor-who-coined-sci-fi-dies-at-92/
The October 2008 issue of Rue Morgue has a lengthy interview with the guy.
There, fixed that for ya... unless of course you meant for /.ers to start queuing to make lesbian jokes...
Sorry, I've heard otherwise, where he used the power of a big studio to obtain memorabilia for his own collection that was being cared for by the impoverished artist who created it.
Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
Forrest Ackerman needed 24-hour home care and as late as 2003 was still engaged in a long, debilitating, and expensive lawsuit against a former business partner. Welcome to his planet [Jan 06,2003]
Think a penny a word.
A quarter cent a word for anything that might be difficult or impossible to sell over the counter.
Payment on publication, at least in theory.*
Still, you had a realistic chance of placing your stories somewhere.
If you were sufficiently talented and adroit, you might chance submitting a story with strong sexual themes to a magazine like The New Yorker.
But not every writer is destined to reach such heights.
* - If you were being paid on acceptance, you were writing for the Saturday Evening Post, your stories were in production by MGM, and ground was being broken for your new house in Conneticut.
Most people who want universal health care actually just want it because other countries have it. They rarely delve into the details of how good or not it is "over there", or who is determining the standards of practice
Most people who don't want universal health care actually don't want it just because they're afraid of how good it would be. They rarely delve into the details of why other countries continue to use it and are simply afraid of anything that might be considered "socialist", because they were told by their local pastor that socialists are evil. They don't exhibit any form of independent thought at all, and just mimick back talking points they've heard without thinking critically about it.
Sad, sad, sad. I met him a couple of times at Esperanto gatherings (the Zamenhof banquet in Berkley) and he was always a welcome and witty character.
Another one bites the dust. We just lost Ursula K. Leguin last month, Robert Asprin this past May, Arthur C. Clarke in March. No more chances to chat with them at cons anymore!
The term "sci-fi" was an alliterative way of honoring Hugo Gernsback, one of the early SF editors, who was also very much into radio and coined the term "Hi-Fi". Forry was trying to come up with a catchy title, and he did.
Most TruFen - hard-core science fiction enthusiasts - would pronounce it "Skiffy", though.
See 'ya on the other side, Forry, we'll miss you!