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I, like so many others, am a child of Famous Monsters of Filmland. I owe much of my childhood, and certainly much of my childhood movie viewing, to the one and only Forrest J Ackerman. Forry Ackerman is a fan’s fan. Born in 1917, he is nearly as old as cinema itself, and certainly is as much a national treasure. His home, nestled deep within the Hollywood Hills, is a shrine of monster movie memorabilia. Every Saturday, fans from all over the world lose themselves in the bowels of Horrorwood, Karloffornia, thrilled at the opportunity to meet the man who meant so much to them growing up.
Forry’s fans are now using the web to organize two tributes to the man who made it all possible. Mark Wilhelm, via Creepy Classics’ MonsterMovies list at Egroups.com, is encouraging Forry Fans to sign a petition urging the Side Show Toys company to honor Forry with his own Little Big Head. If you’re not familiar with Little Big Heads, they’re delightful little figurines with over-sized heads immortalizing characters from classic horror films. Surely, the Ackermonster himself deserves such an homage! If you’re interested in signing the on-line petition, you may do so at Petition Online
The folks at Cult Movies magazine are putting together a tribute of their own. Forry, who has lived is entire life in L.A. (give or take a year or two), has yet to be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Forry deserves to be honored along with the best of them. Cult Movies magazine has submitted a nomination to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce in the hopes that Forry will be one of the twelve chosen for the year 2001 to receive a star. The committee makes their decision in May.
In the meantime, Cult Movies magazine has set out to raise the $15,000 fee required by the Chamber of Commerce for the installation of the star. If you’re interested in contributing, you can send a check earmarked for the Forrest J Ackerman Fund to Cameo Distributions. The folks at Cult Movies say that if Forry’s not elected to the Walk of Fame, the funds will go to shore up Forry’s legal defense in the case involving Ray Ferry. For more information, you can check out http://www.cult-movies.com/newnews.htm or e-mail Cult Movies at info@cult-movies.com. Who knows? Maybe 2001 will go down in history as the year 4EK1.
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Pam Keesey is the editor, publisher, and webmaster of MonsterZine.com. She is the editor of Daughters of Darkness and Dark Angels, both collections of lesbian vampire stories, and Women Who Run with the Werewolves. She is the author of Vamps: An Illustrated History of the Femme Fatale. Her essay, “The Power of Suggestion: Why Robert Wise’s The Haunting Continues to Deliver the Goods to Modern Audiences,” will be appearing in The Horror Film Reader, edited by James Ursini and Alain Silver.
Copyright © 2001 Pam Keesey. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2001 MonsterZine.com. All rights reserved.
ISSN: 1530-9436
