“My wife and I were listening to the radio, and when someone said ‘hi-fi’ the word ’sci-fi’ suddenly hit me. If my interest had been soap operas, I guess it would have been ‘cry-fi,’ or James Bond, ’spy-fi.’ “
- Forrest J Ackerman, 1916-2008
“If Forrest J Ackerman had not existed, it would have been necessary to invent him.”
Anthony Boucher, author
I was speaking to my uncle, David A. Kyle, on the phone yesterday when my Aunt Ruthie reminded him to tell me the news of Forry’s passing on Thursday. They were very close for many, many years, from back in the days when an Apollo trip to the moon was pure science fiction. Of course, the three of them hadn’t been together in a long time, but my uncle recently spoke to him on the phone and sensed the end was near. Although I never met Forrest J Ackerman, I seemed to know him as more than a stranger or cult figure of sci-fi and horror. Growing up, Aunt Ruthie and Uncle David always made sure I had a subscription to Famous Monsters of Filmland, one of his creations.
I was two years old when Forrest J Ackerman coined that term. His passing reminds me so much of my youth and the countless summers I spent with my aunt and uncle in Potsdam, New York. How much I enjoyed those days and nights reading sci-fi stories from the vast collection of books they had amassed over the years. Little do they know that because of them, I chose to write at all.
†
R.I.P. Laurajean Ermayne
6 responses so far ↓
lindsay // December 10, 2008 at 9:14 pm
Hey Dave,
How nice to see a picture of Aunt Ruthie and Uncle David. Thanks ! They are certainly two true characters of the family I married into. Happy 90th Birthday in ‘09 to David Kyle ! What a sense of humor !
Lindsay
Marinade Dave // December 10, 2008 at 9:38 pm
Thanks, Lindsay. Unfortunately, I don’t remember where I got the picture or how old it is. Obviously, it was taken at a sci-fi convention somewhere.
It’s hard to believe he will be 90. He sure doesn’t act it. To listen to him on the phone, he sounds like he’s in his 50s.
Michael A. Banks // December 18, 2008 at 2:01 am
Hi, Dave,
That photo looks like Ruth and Dave in Louisville, at the last Rivercon.
–Mike
Marinade Dave // December 18, 2008 at 8:37 am
Thanks, Mike.
After I downloaded that picture, I couldn’t find it again. This morning, I tried one more time, not that I was questioning you or anything, but I thought it was older than that, like sometime in the 90s. We were both wrong. This time I found it at:
http://www.firstfandom.org/ffphotos.htm
The caption reads:
Ruth Kyle, David A. Kyle at Millennium Philcon (2001)
Dave
Online Memorial Website // December 31, 2008 at 6:02 am
Sci-fi is a term i often use but the next time i use it i know that the memories of Forrest J Ackerman will throng my mind. I simply love this online memorial website.
Marinade Dave // December 31, 2008 at 8:18 am
Yup, he was the man.