Difference between revisions of "Forrest J Ackerman"

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(November 24, 1916 – December 4, 2008)
 
(November 24, 1916 – December 4, 2008)
  
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'''Forrest J''' (he affected no period after the "J") '''Ackerman''' — '''Forry''' — was a [[fan]] (indeed, one of the founders of [[fandom]]), [[collector]] of [[book]]s and movie memorabilia (he was called '''The Grand Aquisitor'''), magazine editor, [[science fiction]] writer, [[Esperanto]] enthusiast (using [[ktp]] instead of "etc"), and literary agent.   
+
'''Forrest J''' (he affected no [[dots|period]] after the "J") '''Ackerman''' — '''Forry''' — was a [[fan]] (indeed, one of the founders of [[fandom]]), [[collector]] of [[book]]s and movie memorabilia (he was called '''The Grand Aquisitor'''), magazine editor, [[science fiction]] writer, [[Esperanto]] enthusiast, and literary agent.   
  
  
 
==Fan==
 
==Fan==
  
−
He was central to creation and growth of [[science fiction fandom]].  Famous for his word play, [[simplifyd spelng]], and neologisms, he coined the genre nickname "[[sci-fi]]". In 1953, he was voted "#1 Fan Personality" by the members of the [[Worldcon]], a unique [[Hugo Award]] never granted to anyone else.
+
He was central to creation and growth of [[science fiction fandom]].  Famous for his word play, [[simplifyd spelng]], [[Scientificombination]]s and neologisms, he coined the genre nickname "[[sci-fi]]". In 1953, he was voted "[[1953 1 Fan Personality Hugo|#1 Fan Personality]]" by the members of the [[Worldcon]], a unique [[Hugo Award]] never granted to anyone else.
  
−
He had a forest of [[nicknames]]: [[Fojak]] (from Esperanto), '''Mr Science Fiction''' (self-applied), [[1 Face|#1 Face]], '''FJA''', [[Efjay]], '''Efjay the Terrible''', [[Ack-Ack]],  [[Wacky]], [[4e]], [[4sj]] and [[J|the J]]. [[Pen names]] included [[Erdstelulov]], [[Mirta Forsto]] (with [[Morojo]]), [[Jack Erman]], [[Claire Voyant]], [[Weaver Wright]] and, possibly, [[Allis Villette]]. He used [[publishing house]] names Snafucius Publications and [[Fubar Pubs]].  
+
He had a forest of [[nicknames]]: [[Fojak]] (from Esperanto), '''Mr Science Fiction''' (self-applied), [[1 Face|#1 Face]], '''FJA''', [[Efjay]], '''Efjay the Terrible''', [[Ack-Ack]],  [[Wacky]], [[4e]], [[4sj]] and [[J|the J]]. [[Pen names]] included [[Erdstelulov]], [[Mirta Forsto]] (with [[Morojo]]), [[Jack Erman]], '''Laurajean Emayne''', [[Claire Voyant]], [[Weaver Wright]] and, possibly, [[Allis Villette]]. He used [[publishing house]] names '''Snafucius Publications''' and [[Fubar Pubs]].  
  
−
Forry found [[SF]] when as a ten-year-old he saw the [[Frank R. Paul]] cover of the October 1926 ''[[Amazing]]''.  He became active as a fan around 1930. (See [[Aubrey MacDermott on the Origins of Fandom]] for a dubiously reliable report.)
+
Forry found [[SF]] when as a ten-year-old he saw the [[Frank R. Paul]] cover of the October 1926 ''[[Amazing]]''.  He became active as a fan around 1930. [[Bob Olsen]] was one of his first contacts. He belonged to the [[Eastbay Club]]. (See [[Aubrey MacDermott on the Origins of Fandom]] for a dubiously reliable report.) He was a founder of the [[Fantasy Fans Fraternity]] in 1933.
  
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He attended the [[First Worldcon]] in 1939, where he and [[Morojo]] wore the first "[[futuristicostumes]]" (a typical [[Ackermanism]]) and sparked [[fan]] costuming. He attended every [[Worldcon]] but two thereafter during his lifetime. He invited the very young [[Ray Bradbury]] to attend the [[LASFS|Los Angeles Chapter of the Science Fiction League]], later LASFS.  He was not a founder of LASFS, but joined in its first year and became so active in and important to the club, that in essence he ran it.   
+
He attended the [[First Worldcon]] in 1939, where he and [[Morojo]] wore the first "[[futuristicostumes]]" (a typical [[Ackermanism]]) and sparked [[fan]] [[costuming]]. He attended every [[Worldcon]] but two thereafter during his lifetime. He invited the very young [[Ray Bradbury]] to attend the [[LASFS|Los Angeles Chapter of the Science Fiction League]], later LASFS.  He was not a founder of LASFS, but joined in its first year and became so active in and important to the club, that in essence he ran it.   
  
−
He originated the [[Big Pond Fund]], the first [[fan fund]] and was also active in the [[National Fantasy Fan Federation]] (N3F) and was for many year its only [[N3F Life Member|lifetime member]]. He was [[West Coast]] Representative for [[Silvercon]].  (And, embarrassingly, he was a supporter of [[Claude Degler]] and effectively the only member of Degler’s [[Futurian Society of California]] and the [[Futurian Society of Los Angeles]].) His publishing included the [[publishing houses]] [[dyktawo]], [[Snafucius Pubs]], and [[Fubar Pubs]].  
+
In the early 1940s, he ran [[Assorted Services]], introducing fan [[publishers]] to [[lithography]].  
  
−
He was a candidate for [[TAFF]] in 1956.
+
He held the first two [[Staplecon]]s in 1943. He belonged to [[FAPA]] and was part of its [[Order of Dagon]]. He was [[Pogo]]’s right-hand man in the [[Sacred Order of FooFoo]].
 +
 
 +
He originated the [[Big Pond Fund]], the first [[fan fund]] and was also active in the [[National Fantasy Fan Federation]] (N3F) and was for many years its only [[N3F Life Member|lifetime member]]. He was [[West Coast]] Representative for [[Silvercon]]. 
 +
 
 +
And, embarrassingly, he was a supporter of [[Claude Degler]] and effectively the only member of Degler’s [[Futurian Society of California]] and the [[Futurian Society of Los Angeles]]. Later, he was on the [[board]] of the disastrous [[WSFS, Inc.]] He [[feuded]] with [[Rog Phillips]] over the [[Shaver Mystery]] and other [[Palmerism]]s (see [[Graham-Ackerman Feud]]). He was a candidate for [[TAFF]] in 1956 and 1957, but didn’t win.
 +
 
 +
[[LASFS]] bestows the [[Forry Award]] in his honor; they gave him one in 2002. He administered the [[Big Heart Award]] for 40 years, until 2000; he received the award in 2006, and it was renamed the Forrest J Ackerman Big Heart Award from then till 2018.  
  
 
==Pro==
 
==Pro==
 
He was the editor and principal writer of ''[[Famous Monsters of Filmland]]'', as well as an actor and producer (''Vampirella'').  He and [[Wendayne]] also brought [[Perry Rhodan]] to the [[US]].
 
He was the editor and principal writer of ''[[Famous Monsters of Filmland]]'', as well as an actor and producer (''Vampirella'').  He and [[Wendayne]] also brought [[Perry Rhodan]] to the [[US]].
  
−
For many years, he served as a de facto agent for [[sf]] writers who were dead or couldn’t be located, allowing their stories to be reprinted and holding payments in escrow until heirs were located.  
+
He wrote a film column for ''[[Imaginative Tales]]''.
 +
 
 +
Ackerman edited ''Womanthology'' (2003), a collection of stories by female writers.
 +
 
 +
In 2004, he co-authored ''Worlds of Tomorrow'' with [[Brad Linaweaver]], a hardcover coffee table [[book]] that spotlights [[SF]] cover [[art]] from the [[Golden Age]] with full color reproduction and commentary from the authors.
 +
 
 +
He was a literary agent. For many years, he served as a de facto agent for [[sf]] writers who were dead or couldn’t be located, allowing their stories to be reprinted and holding payments in escrow until heirs were located.  
  
 
==Collector==
 
==Collector==
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==Personal Life==
 
==Personal Life==
−
Forry was the son of Carroll Cridland Wyman (1883–1977) and William Schilling Ackerman (1892–1951).  
+
Forry was the son of Carroll Cridland Wyman (1883–1977) and William Schilling Ackerman (1892–1951). [[Belle Wyman]], Forry’s grandmother, was also a [[LASFan]], and his grandfather [[George H. Wyman]] seems to have been at least tangentially involved. 
  
−
In the 1930s and early ’40s, he was in a relationship with [[Morojo]]; he was so bitterly angry after their breakup that he barely spoke to her for the rest of her life.
+
In the 1930s and early ’40s, Forry was in a relationship with [[Morojo]]; he was so bitterly angry after their breakup that he barely spoke to her for the rest of her life.
  
 
In 1945, [[4E]] publicly proposed marriage to [[Tigrina]] in [https://fanac.org/fanzines/FanewsCard/Fanews166-02.html a letter] in [[Walt Dunkelberger]]’s ''[[Fanews]]'' 166 (June 19, 1945). In #170, on July 3, [https://fanac.org/fanzines/FanewsCard/Fanews170-04.html? Tigrina declined]. Dunk avowed both letters were legit.  
 
In 1945, [[4E]] publicly proposed marriage to [[Tigrina]] in [https://fanac.org/fanzines/FanewsCard/Fanews166-02.html a letter] in [[Walt Dunkelberger]]’s ''[[Fanews]]'' 166 (June 19, 1945). In #170, on July 3, [https://fanac.org/fanzines/FanewsCard/Fanews170-04.html? Tigrina declined]. Dunk avowed both letters were legit.  
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In 1949, Forry married [[Wendayne Ackerman]], whom he’d met in a [[Los Angeles]] department store where she worked as a clerk selling books. After nine years of marriage, she and FJA divorced — but, after a brief hiatus, remained friends and companions, reconciling and remarrying in 1972. Forry and her son from a previous marriage, Michael Porjes, did not get along.  
 
In 1949, Forry married [[Wendayne Ackerman]], whom he’d met in a [[Los Angeles]] department store where she worked as a clerk selling books. After nine years of marriage, she and FJA divorced — but, after a brief hiatus, remained friends and companions, reconciling and remarrying in 1972. Forry and her son from a previous marriage, Michael Porjes, did not get along.  
  
−
[[Belle Wyman]], Forry’s grandmother, was also a [[LASFan]].
+
He suffered heart problems in 1966, but recovered.  
  
−
He suffered heart problems in 1966, but recovered and on December 2, 1966, 185 people paid $5 each to attend a not-quite-a-surprise Birthday Dinner and Testimonial at the Hollywood Knickerbocker Hotel.  It was organized by [[Walt Daugherty]], [[Robert Bloch]] was [[toastmaster]].  Speakers included [[Ray Bradbury]], [[Jim Warren]], [[Guy Gifford]], Carel Borland,  [[A. E. van Vogt]], [[Walt Leibscher]] and many others.  He was presented with a plethora of plaques, trophies, scrolls and other stuff.  The tradition of huge birthday celebrations continued and on November 21, 1986, there was a [[Fan Gathering|fan gathering]] called (in the best Ackerman tradition) [[4E 2B 70]].
+
In November 1958, [[Forry-FortyTwo Con]] was held to celebrate Forry’s [[42]]nd birthday. On December 2, 1966, 185 people paid $5 each to attend a not-quite-a-surprise Birthday Dinner and Testimonial at the Hollywood Knickerbocker Hotel.  It was organized by [[Walt Daugherty]], [[Robert Bloch]] was [[toastmaster]].  Speakers included [[Ray Bradbury]], [[Jim Warren]], [[Guy Gifford]], Carel Borland,  [[A. E. van Vogt]], [[Walt Leibscher]] and many others.  He was presented with a plethora of plaques, trophies, scrolls and other stuff.   
 +
 
 +
The tradition of huge birthday celebrations continued on November 21, 1986, with a [[Fan Gathering|fan gathering]] called (in the best Ackerman tradition) [[4E 2B 70]].
 +
 
 +
Along with his [[stfnal]] avocations, Forry was involved with the early [[mundane]] [[nudity|nudism]] movement. 
  
 
==More reading ==
 
==More reading ==
−
 
+
===About Forry===
 
*{{SFE |name=ackerman_forrest_j}}.
 
*{{SFE |name=ackerman_forrest_j}}.
 +
*[http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?119 Bibliography at ISFDB.]
 +
*''[[Forry: The Life of Forrest J Ackerman]]''.
 +
*''[[Mr Monster: A Tribute to Forrest J Ackerman]]''.
 
*[[Christopher M. O'Brien]]’s ''[[The Forrest J Ackerman Oeuvre]]'', a comprehensive catalog of his writing.
 
*[[Christopher M. O'Brien]]’s ''[[The Forrest J Ackerman Oeuvre]]'', a comprehensive catalog of his writing.
 
* Founding Members profile in {{TNFF|date=June, 2016 |volume=75|number=6}}.
 
* Founding Members profile in {{TNFF|date=June, 2016 |volume=75|number=6}}.
 +
* [https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedailymirror/2008/12/voices----forre.html?cid=142342488 “Welcome to his planet”] (Los Angeles Times, January 06, 2003).
 
*Early biography in {{WhosWho1940|page=3}}.
 
*Early biography in {{WhosWho1940|page=3}}.
−
* {{link | website=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28535|text=Con report}} on [[Nycon II]]
 
 
* [https://fanac.org/Fan_Photo_Album/a02-p00.html Ackermansion photos.]
 
* [https://fanac.org/Fan_Photo_Album/a02-p00.html Ackermansion photos.]
−
* [http://www.jophan.org/mimosa/author_list.html#ackerman “Through Time and Space with Forry Ackerman”], a series of [[articles]] in ''[[Mimosa]]''.
+
* [https://library.syr.edu/digital/guides/a/ackerman_fj.htm Papers at Syracuse University.]
 +
* [https://rmoa.unm.edu/docviewer.php?docId=wyu-ah02358.xml Papers at the University of Wyoming.]
  
−
In 1989, Forry wrote several reminiscences of [[Worldcons]] he had attended for the [[Noreascon Three]] [[program book]]:  
+
===By Forry===
−
* [[ackerman-nycon-reminiscence|NYcon]]
+
[http://web.archive.org/web/20080311041914/http://4forry.best.vwh.net/ Website] (archived).
−
* [[ackerman-pacificon-reminiscence|Pacificon]]
+
* {{link | website=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28535|text=Con report}} on [[Nycon II]]
−
* [[Denvention I Reminiscence (Ackerman)|Denvention]]
+
* [http://www.jophan.org/mimosa/author_list.html#ackerman “Through Time and Space with Forry Ackerman,”] a series of [[articles]] in ''[[Mimosa]]''.
−
* [[Chicon I Reminiscence (Ackerman)|Chicon I]]
+
*In 1989, Forry wrote several reminiscences of [[Worldcons]] he had attended for the [[Noreascon Three]] [[program book]]:  
 +
** [[ackerman-nycon-reminiscence|NYcon]].
 +
** [[ackerman-pacificon-reminiscence|Pacificon]].
 +
** [[Denvention I Reminiscence (Ackerman)|Denvention]].
 +
** [[Chicon I Reminiscence (Ackerman)|Chicon I]].
  
 
===Video Links===
 
===Video Links===
−
* {{link | website=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlQCHHGbhhQ|text=Audio interview with Richard Lynch, 1996}}
+
* {{link | website=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlQCHHGbhhQ|text=Audio interview with Richard Lynch, 1996.}}
−
* {{link | website=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYUQm1QsxN0|text=Documentary on Ackerman}}
+
* {{link | website=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYUQm1QsxN0|text=Documentary on Ackerman.}}
−
* {{link | website=https://youtu.be/5WFRsm0-PTc|text=Video tour of the Ackermansion}}
+
* {{link | website=https://youtu.be/5WFRsm0-PTc|text=Video tour of the Ackermansion.}}
−
* [https://youtu.be/d-oqn_ErLXg Video tour of the Ackermansion]
+
* [https://youtu.be/d-oqn_ErLXg Video tour of the Ackermansion.]
−
* [https://youtu.be/JjnG2YYsmNY “The Genie”]
+
* [https://youtu.be/JjnG2YYsmNY “The Genie.”]
  
 
'''[[Fanzines]] and [[Apazines]]:'''
 
'''[[Fanzines]] and [[Apazines]]:'''
 +
* [[1948 Fantasy Annual]]
 
* ''[[The Alden Press]]''
 
* ''[[The Alden Press]]''
 
* ''[[Amazing Forries]]''
 
* ''[[Amazing Forries]]''
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* ''[[The Damn Thing]]'' (with [[T. Bruce Yerke]])
 
* ''[[The Damn Thing]]'' (with [[T. Bruce Yerke]])
 
* ''[[DYKTAWO|Dyktawo!--Remember?]]''
 
* ''[[DYKTAWO|Dyktawo!--Remember?]]''
 +
*''[[The Fanzine Yearbook]]'' [1942] (with [[Bob Tucker]] and others)
 +
*''[[Get Them Out on Time]]''
 
* ''[[Glom]]''
 
* ''[[Glom]]''
 
* ''[[Hollerbochen Comes Back]]'' [1939]
 
* ''[[Hollerbochen Comes Back]]'' [1939]
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* ''[[Madge's Prize Mss.]]''
 
* ''[[Madge's Prize Mss.]]''
 
* ''[[Madman of Mars]]'' (for [[FAPA]])
 
* ''[[Madman of Mars]]'' (for [[FAPA]])
 +
* ''[[The Meteor]]''
 
* ''[[Metropolis]]''
 
* ''[[Metropolis]]''
 
* ''[[Novacious]]''
 
* ''[[Novacious]]''
 
* ''[[Outlandi]]'' [1944]
 
* ''[[Outlandi]]'' [1944]
 
* ''[[Polaris: Paul Freehafer, The Good Die Young]]''
 
* ''[[Polaris: Paul Freehafer, The Good Die Young]]''
 +
* ''[[Presenting -- Adam Singlesheet]]''
 
* ''[[Rahuun Ta-Ka]]''
 
* ''[[Rahuun Ta-Ka]]''
 
* ''[[VOM]]'' (and the ''[[VOMbozine]]'')
 
* ''[[VOM]]'' (and the ''[[VOMbozine]]'')
Line 98: Line 127:
 
{{recognition}}
 
{{recognition}}
 
* 1951 -- [[Festivention]]
 
* 1951 -- [[Festivention]]
 +
* 1953 -- '''[[1953 1 Fan Personality Hugo|#1 Fan Personality Hugo]]'''
 +
* 1957 -- [[LASFS]] Testimonial Banquet
 
* 1968 -- [[Order of St. Fantony]]
 
* 1968 -- [[Order of St. Fantony]]
−
* 1972 -- [[Evans-Freehafer Trophy]] in 1972
+
* 1971 -- [[Alberta Science Fiction Society Open House]]
−
* 1974 -- [[Lunacon 17]], [[First Fandom Hall of Fame Award]]
+
* 1972 -- [[Evans-Freehafer Trophy]]
−
* 1976 -- [[Rhocon I]]
+
* 1974 -- [[Lunacon 17]], [[First Fandom Hall of Fame Award]], [[Inkpot Award]]
 +
* 1975 -- [[Equicon '75]]
 +
* 1976 -- [[Rhocon I]], [[Equicon '76]]
 
* 1977 -- [[Clayton Con]], [[Fantasy Faire VII]], [[HBHS Minicon]]
 
* 1977 -- [[Clayton Con]], [[Fantasy Faire VII]], [[HBHS Minicon]]
 
* 1979 -- [[The Fantasy Symposium]]
 
* 1979 -- [[The Fantasy Symposium]]
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* 1990 -- Toastmaster at [[DeepSouthCon 28]]
 
* 1990 -- Toastmaster at [[DeepSouthCon 28]]
 
* 1991 -- [[Norwescon XIV]], [[Rovacon 16]], [[Baycon '91]], [[ForryCon]], [[Life, the Universe, & Everything 9]]
 
* 1991 -- [[Norwescon XIV]], [[Rovacon 16]], [[Baycon '91]], [[ForryCon]], [[Life, the Universe, & Everything 9]]
−
* 1994 -- [[Rivercon XIX]]
+
* 1992 -- [[Baycon '92]]
−
* 1995 -- [[Raymond Z. Gallun Award]]
+
* 1994 -- [[Rivercon XIX]], [[Marcon 29]]
 +
* 1995 -- [[Raymond Z. Gallun Award]], [[Marcon 30]]
 
* 1996 -- [[Archon 20]], [[Baycon '96]], [[First Fandom Hall of Fame award]], [[1946 Best Fanzine Retro Hugo]], [[1946 Best Fan Writer Retro Hugo]]
 
* 1996 -- [[Archon 20]], [[Baycon '96]], [[First Fandom Hall of Fame award]], [[1946 Best Fanzine Retro Hugo]], [[1946 Best Fan Writer Retro Hugo]]
 
* 1997 -- [[Conquest (MB)]], [[Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement Award]]  
 
* 1997 -- [[Conquest (MB)]], [[Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement Award]]  
−
* 1998 -- [[ICON (Iowa) 23|ICON 23]]
+
* 1998 -- [[ICON (Iowa) 23|ICON 23]], [[Con*Cept '98]]
 
* 1999 -- [[Sam Moskowitz Archive Award]], [[toastmaster]] at [[Archon 23]]
 
* 1999 -- [[Sam Moskowitz Archive Award]], [[toastmaster]] at [[Archon 23]]
 
* 2002 -- [[Astronomicon 2002]], [[Forry Award]], [[World Fantasy Convention Lifetime Achievement Award]]  
 
* 2002 -- [[Astronomicon 2002]], [[Forry Award]], [[World Fantasy Convention Lifetime Achievement Award]]  
 +
* 2003 -- [[Julie Award]]
 
* 2006 -- [[Big Heart Award]]
 
* 2006 -- [[Big Heart Award]]
 
* 2014 -- [[1939 Best Fanzine Retro Hugo]]  
 
* 2014 -- [[1939 Best Fanzine Retro Hugo]]  

Revision as of 13:42, 22 March 2021

(November 24, 1916 – December 4, 2008)

Forrest J (he affected no period after the "J") Ackerman — Forry — was a fan (indeed, one of the founders of fandom), collector of books and movie memorabilia (he was called The Grand Aquisitor), magazine editor, science fiction writer, Esperanto enthusiast, and literary agent.


Fan[edit]

He was central to creation and growth of science fiction fandom. Famous for his word play, simplifyd spelng, Scientificombinations and neologisms, he coined the genre nickname "sci-fi". In 1953, he was voted "#1 Fan Personality" by the members of the Worldcon, a unique Hugo Award never granted to anyone else.

He had a forest of nicknames: Foĵak (from Esperanto), Mr Science Fiction (self-applied), #1 Face, FJA, Efjay, Efjay the Terrible, Ack-Ack, Wacky, 4e, 4sj and the J. Pen names included Erdstelulov, Mirta Forsto (with Morojo), Jack Erman, Laurajean Emayne, Claire Voyant, Weaver Wright and, possibly, Allis Villette. He used publishing house names Snafucius Publications and Fubar Pubs.

Forry found SF when as a ten-year-old he saw the Frank R. Paul cover of the October 1926 Amazing. He became active as a fan around 1930. Bob Olsen was one of his first contacts. He belonged to the Eastbay Club. (See Aubrey MacDermott on the Origins of Fandom for a dubiously reliable report.) He was a founder of the Fantasy Fans Fraternity in 1933.

He attended the First Worldcon in 1939, where he and Morojo wore the first "futuristicostumes" (a typical Ackermanism) and sparked fan costuming. He attended every Worldcon but two thereafter during his lifetime. He invited the very young Ray Bradbury to attend the Los Angeles Chapter of the Science Fiction League, later LASFS. He was not a founder of LASFS, but joined in its first year and became so active in and important to the club, that in essence he ran it.

In the early 1940s, he ran Assorted Services, introducing fan publishers to lithography.

He held the first two Staplecons in 1943. He belonged to FAPA and was part of its Order of Dagon. He was Pogo’s right-hand man in the Sacred Order of FooFoo.

He originated the Big Pond Fund, the first fan fund and was also active in the National Fantasy Fan Federation (N3F) and was for many years its only lifetime member. He was West Coast Representative for Silvercon.

And, embarrassingly, he was a supporter of Claude Degler and effectively the only member of Degler’s Futurian Society of California and the Futurian Society of Los Angeles. Later, he was on the board of the disastrous WSFS, Inc. He feuded with Rog Phillips over the Shaver Mystery and other Palmerisms (see Graham-Ackerman Feud). He was a candidate for TAFF in 1956 and 1957, but didn’t win.

LASFS bestows the Forry Award in his honor; they gave him one in 2002. He administered the Big Heart Award for 40 years, until 2000; he received the award in 2006, and it was renamed the Forrest J Ackerman Big Heart Award from then till 2018.

Pro[edit]

He was the editor and principal writer of Famous Monsters of Filmland, as well as an actor and producer (Vampirella). He and Wendayne also brought Perry Rhodan to the United States.

He wrote a film column for Imaginative Tales.

Ackerman edited Womanthology (2003), a collection of stories by female writers.

In 2004, he co-authored Worlds of Tomorrow with Brad Linaweaver, a hardcover coffee table book that spotlights SF cover art from the Golden Age with full color reproduction and commentary from the authors.

He was a literary agent. For many years, he served as a de facto agent for sf writers who were dead or couldn’t be located, allowing their stories to be reprinted and holding payments in escrow until heirs were located.

Collector[edit]

He accumulated an extremely large collection of science fiction, fantasy and horror film memorabilia, which he stored in houses-cum-museums in Los Angeles known as the Ackermansion and Son of Ackermansion. He regularly opened them to visitors. The original, where he lived from the early 1950s until the mid-70s, contained some 300,000 books and pieces of movie and science-fiction memorabilia.

One of his attempts to deal with the accumulation was the Fantasy Foundation.

In addition to genre materials, he had other collectible items, including a chair that had belonged to Abraham Lincoln.

Starting in the late ’70s or early ’80s, Ackerman tried to turn his collection into a public museum, ultimately without success. One attempt is narrated in File 770 38, p. 4.

Before his death, he was forced to sell much of his collection to meet medical expenses.

Personal Life[edit]

Forry was the son of Carroll Cridland Wyman (1883–1977) and William Schilling Ackerman (1892–1951). Belle Wyman, Forry’s grandmother, was also a LASFan, and his grandfather George H. Wyman seems to have been at least tangentially involved.

In the 1930s and early ’40s, Forry was in a relationship with Morojo; he was so bitterly angry after their breakup that he barely spoke to her for the rest of her life.

In 1945, 4E publicly proposed marriage to Tigrina in a letter in Walt Dunkelberger’s Fanews 166 (June 19, 1945). In #170, on July 3, Tigrina declined. Dunk avowed both letters were legit.

In 1949, Forry married Wendayne Ackerman, whom he’d met in a Los Angeles department store where she worked as a clerk selling books. After nine years of marriage, she and FJA divorced — but, after a brief hiatus, remained friends and companions, reconciling and remarrying in 1972. Forry and her son from a previous marriage, Michael Porjes, did not get along.

He suffered heart problems in 1966, but recovered.

In November 1958, Forry-FortyTwo Con was held to celebrate Forry’s 42nd birthday. On December 2, 1966, 185 people paid $5 each to attend a not-quite-a-surprise Birthday Dinner and Testimonial at the Hollywood Knickerbocker Hotel. It was organized by Walt Daugherty, Robert Bloch was toastmaster. Speakers included Ray Bradbury, Jim Warren, Guy Gifford, Carel Borland, A. E. van Vogt, Walt Leibscher and many others. He was presented with a plethora of plaques, trophies, scrolls and other stuff.

The tradition of huge birthday celebrations continued on November 21, 1986, with a fan gathering called (in the best Ackerman tradition) 4E 2B 70.

Along with his stfnal avocations, Forry was involved with the early mundane nudism movement.

More reading[edit]

About Forry[edit]

By Forry[edit]

Website (archived).

Video Links[edit]

Fanzines and Apazines:

Awards, Honors and GoHships:


Person 1916—2008
This is a biography page. Please extend it by adding more information about the person, such as fanzines and apazines published, awards, clubs, conventions worked on, GoHships, impact on fandom, external links, anecdotes, etc. See Standards for People and The Naming of Names.

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