Talk:Forrest J Ackerman

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Clifton's Cafeteria

I believe that "the now legendary Clifton’s Cafeteria Science Fiction Club" is the same as the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society, which Ackerman was a founding member of and which met at Clifton's Cafeteria during the late 1930s. Technically, it was the Los Angeles Science Fiction League (or the Los Angeles chapter of the Science Fiction League) from 1934 to 1940, when it voted to secede from the SFL and become an independent club.

Ackerman has told me personally that his middle name is James but that he prefers to use the initial J only without a period.75.25.28.114 15:26, 9 September 2007 (UTC)Fred Patten[reply]

Fred is correct. There was no "Clifton's Cafeteria Science Fiction Club," at least by that name. It was, as said, the Los Angeles chapter of The Science Fiction League, which became LASFS/Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society. It still meets every Thursday night, but now in its own clubhouse. In THE SCI-FI GUYS DVD, someone erroneously identifies the club as "The Rocket Society," but that's incorrect, too. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bill Warren 76.93.27.121 (talk) 01:24, 7 March 2009 (UTC)76.93.27.121 (talk) 01:12, 7 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

"J" or "J."?

I might be wrong, but I think Ackerman's middle name is just "j", without the period (same as "Harry S Truman"). Will try to confirm before messing with redirects, etc.

The above is correct, 4sj's middle name is J with no period, and someone should fix the redirects (I don't know how).

I believe his middle name is James, but he goes by "Forrest J Ackerman", no period. If I (or someone else) gets a positive answer on which this should be, I'll be happy to move the article and fix the redirects. (By the way, Truman himself, although he had several quips about his nameless middle initial, used a period in his signature, as discussed in the "Truman's middle initial" section of his Wikipedia article.) — Jeff Q 09:28, 5 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Some smarty-pants editor decided that Wikipedia's punctuation style trumps Forry's wishes — now what? Lars T. (talk) 23:58, 7 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

No, Forry's middle name was neither J with a period nor J without a period. It was James. As Fred Patten says above, he simply decided not to use his middle name in its entirety, just the first letter. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bill Warren76.93.27.121 (talk) 01:04, 7 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Jan. 12, 2006 Copy Edits

I made some copy edit on Jan. 12 (UTC). In addition to the usual link work, I edited some sentences for flow and to reduce excess verbiage: many sentences were basically running lists. I removed two sentences about actors he knew and writers he corresponded with, since that is not really notable or important, given that his stature is large enough that such acquaintances and correspondence is completely expected and unsurprising.

Mentor to directors: I almost removed the claim that "he served as a mentor" to a large list of famous film directors, and I still think we should remove it. In the interim, I have put a citation-needed tag on it. I think the claim is an exaggeration, both in the number of directors and in the degree of influence, since "mentor" implies roles of teacher and close associate and also implied a great deal of influence.

First Hugo: I changed that to first Hugo for best fan writer.

Perry Rhodan series: I reduced the verbiage and removed the non-neutral-PoV (nNPoV) "unfortunately".

Appearances: Merged redundant material from above into this section and reduced verbiage ("e.g.").

See also section: The lists are not specifically related to Ackerman so I removed the section.

In summary, I think the article as I found it had nNPoV over-awed fan cruft in it that I tried to eliminate. Hu 01:37, 12 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Forry received the first award given at a World Science Fiction Convention, but it was before they were termed the Hugos. And the award was for "No. One Fan Personality" of the previous year, not for writing. The award was correctly but RETROACTIVELY called a Hugo. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bill Warren76.93.27.121 (talk) 01:06, 7 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

"Mr Science Fiction" citation request

As a 52-y-o SF fan myself I have long known this, but stretching out my right arm to pick up Clute & Nicholls's xxxvi + 1,370-page The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (Orbit, London 1993) and leafing to the entry (by Malcolm J Edwards and John Clute) for Ackerman, Forrest James on pp 3-4, I find:

'. . . as early as 1932 served as associate editor of The Time Traveller, the first fanzine. For many decades thereafter he wrote stories and articles prolifically for fan journals - using his own name and a wide variety of elaborate pseudonyms . . . - and becoming known in fan circles as "Mr Science Fiction"; he won . . .'

I hope this is sufficiently authoritative confirmation of this minor matter. Apologies for lacking the wiki-fu to edit and add references myself.

Sadly, as I write the breaking news is that Forry is very ill, so this article may need further updating soon; I am sure many others will be far more qualified than I. 87.81.230.195 (talk) 22:31, 4 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not a particularly experienced editor, either, but I did my best to add a reference to this sad news in an appropriate place. --Happypete (talk) 02:13, 7 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Reports of death

A false report of Forry's death has come out of England as of approximately 9 p.m. Eastern Time (US), Thursday, November 6. An accurate source of his health can be found at the Classic Horror Film Board. Many people at that board know Forry and see him often. If there is any change in his condition, that board will have the correct information as soon, if not sooner, than the general press. Please consult that before posting anything about Forry's death. — Walloon (talk) 03:44, 7 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

His death is reported at http://www.locusmag.com. Because of the preceding comment I have not updated the article. Thiesen (talk) 05:36, 7 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The problem with citing Locus as a source is that Locus cited Wikipedia as it's source. This leads to circular reasoning. I reverted out the incorrect report based on info from Alex Paige, who seems to be in close contact with Forry's caregivers. (LASFS Webmaster) Bgoldnyxnet (talk) 01:05, 8 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

One of the other edits mentioning his death appears to have come from Laurie D. T. Mann, who not only runs the Dead People Server, but is sufficiently well-connected in Fandom to have access to accurate sources --Ray Radlein (talk) 05:59, 7 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

On the other hand, edit wars are a large part of why I hardly ever spend time here any more, and he'll still presumably be just as dead tomorrow (although if anyone could arise from beyond the grave, it would be Forry), so despite the fact that Locus is absolutely a sufficient source for a cite under WP's standards, I'll just leave it alone as well for now. I've put follow-up queries in with various fannish sources, and we'll see if new information develops. --Ray Radlein (talk) 06:20, 7 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

No source is sufficient if it incorrectly reports someone's death. — Walloon (talk) 13:55, 7 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Email from: Alex Paige -- Fri, 07 Nov 2008 17:15:29 +1100:

"I'm just sending out a group email to let you know that the reports of Forrest J Ackerman's death which are currently circulating are incorrect. / Here's the facts: Mr Ackerman is suffering from congestive heart failure and pneumonia and has elected not to undergo any further treatment or medication. He is resting comfortably at home surrounded by close friends and is lucid though weak. He is not deceased. / An erroneous report earlier today on the British Fantasy Society website has now been picked up by both Wikipedia and, worse yet, Locus Online which has posted an obituary. Nobody seems to bother to check sources anymore. / Corrections have been sent out to all concerned (the wiki entry has been amended) but of course neither the BFS site nor Locus has been amended as yet. / Can I respectfully ask that people wait for official notification of Forry's condition from his people before publishing any premature reports of his shuffling off this mortal coil. [...] / I've been in contact with the webstaffer [correction] of LASFS - surely the most appropriate site to keep up to date as Forry was a founding member - and she will be supplied with the most up to date news, so may I respectfully suggest that you check there for details."

Note that this is dated a day after the supposed death report. The LASFS site is here and the current Ackerman news thread is here. DeafMan (talk) 09:36, 7 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Locus have now said their report was premature.[1] Molotron (talk) 15:23, 7 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

British Fantasy Society has also now issued a retraction. I am in regular contact with Forry's primary carer Joe Moe and will update Wikipedia with major changes in Mr Ackerman's health status as soon as it comes to hand. Alex Paige (talk) 02:58, 8 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It's on the AP newswires now, dammit. Ĝis la revido, kara samideano! --Orange Mike | Talk 20:43, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Regrettably, death confirmed as occuring at 11.58pm Thursday December 4 at his home in Los Angeles.Alex Paige (talk) 22:30, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Gross Understatement

I just stopped to read this entry after hearing of Mr. Ackerman's passing and was struck by what a gross understatement, to say the least, is contained in the opening sentence. "Forrest J Ackerman (November 24, 1916 - December 4, 2008)[1] was an American collector of science fiction books and movie memorabilia and a science fiction fan." Forry Ackerman was certainly both a collector and fan, but he was so incredibly much more to American science fiction - a writer, an actor (albeit bit roles), a literary agent, and probably the foremost promoter of the genre throughout the 20th century. I'm hopeful that, in the course of folks looking at this over the next few days, that someone will craft an appropriate opening sentence that suitably acknowledges the gentleman's contributions to the field.Irish Melkite (talk) 21:11, 6 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Agreed, Forry Ackerman did more in his lifetime to promote science fiction, fantasy and horror than anyone else living or dead has ever managed.Alex Paige (talk) 12:10, 7 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Could someone add to FJA's page for me?

Hi, I can't access the FJA page because it's semi-protected and I'm new to Wikipedia. But I'd like to have an award added to FJ's list..

In 1999, he was awarded the very first Mangled Skyscraper Award by the Godzilla Society of North America at their annual G-FEST.

To whoever posts this, thanks. Muklapta (talk) 06:14, 14 December 2008 (UTC)Muklapta[reply]

Sorry, no. Non-notable award by non-notable organization. --Orange Mike | Talk 20:08, 15 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Someone needs to remove THE POWER from the list of films in which Forry appears. He did shoot a scene for that George Pal production, but it never made it into the final print. Pal gave the footage to Forry, and it "lived" in his refrigerator for years. ==Bill Warren —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.93.27.121 (talk) 01:22, 7 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]