Forrest J Ackerman

Dear Anders,

The tributes to Forrest J Ackerman in the latest issue of Prometheus brought back many memories of the great man and his legacy to the world of imagination. The news of Forry's passing are sad tidings for SF fans of all stripes and wings. As you allude to in your introduction—the great age of 20th century science fiction is all but gone. You and contributors Linaweaver, Koman, and Wilson did fine personal tributes to him.

I feel sorry for F. Paul Wilson for never having met him. Even though I live on the opposite coast I was lucky enough to have met him at several WorldCons and once I even got a tour of the Ackermansion. A memory I will cherish forever.

I know that Victor Koman and daughter Vanessa made numerous treks to the Ackermansion over the years—lucky ones! I was surprised that Victor did not mention that pictures of his actress daughter were featured several time in Forry's magazines. He ran a picture of her dressed as an Addams Family kid in one issue (on the same page as a childhood photo of director Fred Olen Ray dressed as Dracula). Could this connection be what prompted Ray to cast she and Forry soon afterward in his Attack of the 60 Foot Centerfold? Forry even ran a picture of her in the new version of Spacemen. Finally, Victor's parental modesty prevented him from pointing out that she was in one of Ackerman's last film appearances: Brad Linaweaver's “Her Morbid Desires” segment of The Boneyard Collection. But I have no such modesty. I worked briefly with Vanessa after she starred in Little Miss Magic when she came to DragonCon several years ago and acted with the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company she was a delight to direct.

Brad Linaweaver's piece was a heart-felt tribute to Forry's impact on SF and the world. Unfortunately he did not include his personal reminiscences—but the “to be continued” tag at the end hints at more. I look forward to more Forry stories since I have so few of mine own.

Forry, have you finally met Jules Verne?

PS. About your tribute to Patrick McGoohan. Yes, The Prisoner, is a seminal work of individualism that should be dear to the heart of all libertarian SF fans. It is, in fact, my favorite TV show. But there was another TV appearance of Patrick McGoohan that was of interest to libertarians. It was not science fiction—but instead historical fiction!

The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh, which ran as a three part serial on the Disneyland show in 1963, was a very early influence on my philosophical life. In it McGoohan plays Dr. Syn, a kindly vicar at a small town on the coast of England. By night he is the fearsome and unforgiving Scarecrow, who leads a band of smugglers evading the British import duties and restrictions. What is amazing—what riveted my attention in 1963 (when I was 10) was that Dr. Syn/The Scarecrow was the hero— he was the good guy. The agents of the crown were the bad guys. Smuggling good. Tax collecting bad. On national TV. On Disney!!!! WOW.

I could go on for pages—and maybe someday I will. I just recently saw this again for the first time in 20-something years and it is just as brilliant as I recall. Thanks to the Walt Disney Company for re-releasing the restored WIDESCREEN version of this as part of their silver-boxed DVD treasury series. To give you an idea of the pent-up demand for this masterpiece of DVDs—it sold out within a week and is now only available at collectors' prices.

Sincerely,
William Alan Ritch

William Alan Ritch is a former editor of Prometheus. He is currently the president of the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company (www.artc.org).