Forrest J. Ackerman - Famous Monster man

When I was 10 years old, I had three passions - dinosaurs, outer space, and monster movies. Now after 35 years as a geologist, I've had the wonderful experience of excavating dinosaurs in Utah and Colorado, and mapping the geology of other planets. But I still love a good (and bad) monster movie.

So, it's saddening to learn that Forrest J. Ackerman [right, wikipedia] died on Thursday at the age of 92. Ackerman, who went by a variety of nicknames, was the publisher of Famous Monsters of Filmland [below, wikipedia], the first magazine I ever subscribed to (and still have, tucked safely away). Forry was the ultimate science fiction fan who lived in a huge home filled to the rafters with sci-fi and monster movie memorabilia. It was my dream house.