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This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.

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Forrest Ackerman, Dead at 92

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Weeks ago, we warned that Forrest Ackerman, coiner of the phrase sci-fi, adventurer and keeper of the science-fiction flame, was ailing.

On Thursday, December 4th, he finally succumbed to congestive heart failure. If all of us only did half of what he's done for what he loved the world would be a significantly better place. He was boundless in his energy and enthusiasm.

Some time ago, in a note to Ain't It Cool News' Harry Knowles, he speculated on his own death. He didn't believe in the soul or the afterlife, and knew that in a thousand years, no one would remember him. And that would be okay. He said: "Maybe I’ll get lucky and imagine my mother calling, as she did when I was a child, “Forry boy, come and take your nap."

Learn more about the life of the late Forrest Ackerman via his MySpace page.

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