FORRY ACKERMAN

Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.

Our affection for Forrest Ackerman is well-documented on this site, and if you don’t know who he is, I’d suggest you do a search for “Ackerman.” Remember the quotation marks. It makes all the difference in how our search engine works.

I was sent the following by several people, and it makes me very sad to publish it:

ACKERMAN COLLECTION FOR SALE A MAJOR FIGURE in the world of Sci-Fi/Fantasy for over half a century, Forrest J Ackerman is also widely considered one of the nicest and most generous individuals on this planet. He has worked as an agent, actor, editor, lecturer, archivist, researcher, and anthologist. In 1957 Forry began editing the magazine "Famous Monsters of Filmland", a publication that changed the lives of a generation. His friends have included Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Ray Bradbury, Ray Harryhausen, Fritz Lang, Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Ed Wood... and thousands of fans around the world. Forry’s home, the "Ackermansion" (located in Horrorwood, Karloffornia), is a museum devoted to the world of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Filled with thousands of books, original paintings, and motion picture props, the Ackermansion has been open to the public since 1950. Visitors were given the opportunity to view Bela Lugosi’s Dracula cape, animation models used in "King Kong", Boris Karloff’s "Mummy" ring, Lon Chaney Sr.’s make-up kit, plus thousands of rare Sci-Fi books, posters, props, lobby cards, and photographs. For personal reasons Forry has decided to close the Ackermansion and part with a significant portion of his collection. Many of these items will be auctioned on ebay over the next several months. Please join us in aiding and honoring one of the great figures in the world of Sci-Fi and Fantasy. Starting this week, collectors will be able to bid on items from his collection (including props, masks, posters, lobby cards, toys, model kits, gadgets, stills, rare books, paintings etc) by entering "Ackerman Collection" or "Ackermansion" in the ebay search engine. This auction will be ongoing for next few months. Proceeds of this Auction will go to Mr. Ackerman's retirement fund. Once re-located, Forry looks forward to welcoming friends, both old and new, to the new Ackermuseum.

The Ackermansion is one of those spots in Hollywood that every good film geek has eventually seen, and the thought of it closing its doors and that collection being scattered to the wind... well, it’s heartbreaking.

Still, if it will help Forry, then I’m all for it. So go check out the items on eBay and see what sort of magic you’re able to buy. You might be surprised.

"Moriarty" out.