File 770
Issue 142: June 2003
Fans cheered and gave Forrest J Ackerman a standing ovation as he came forward during the 2002 Loscon masquerade halftime to accept an award for lifetime service to the science fiction field. This past Thanksgiving weekend was the first time many of them had seen the 86-year-old icon since he suffered an array of life-threatening medical problems. Forry was assisted to the podium, took the award plaque in one hand and waved greetings with the other.
Forry's medical crisis began in April when the chair he was sitting in collapsed and he struck his head. A blood clot formed in his brain as a result of the blow. He was admitted to Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Los Angeles where surgeons operated and removed the clot. However, he had a very difficult recuperation, including a bout of pneumonia As Forry told the Loscon audience, "I almost died twice this year!"
Despite the difficulties of a long stay in Kaiser and weeks of physical therapy at another facility, Forry grew well enough to move home. However, the effects of illness and age had made it too hard to manage all the stairs in the Ackermansion, the 18-room Los Feliz Hills residence stuffed with his collection of sf and movie memorabilia. Forry also needed to deal with the costs of his care. So he moved into a three-bedroom rental house with a few treasured possessions, such as the replica of the female robot from his favorite film, "Metropolis," a Cylon, his trophies, awards, and his piano (with child-sized teeth marks where he bit it in frustration over having to practice.) The Ackermansion was sold and the rest of his collection was dispersed in a series of sales that received wide media coverage.
Bjo Trimble describes Forry's new place as a little 1911 Craftsman-style bungalow only three blocks from House of Pies, one of his very favorite restaurants. She wrote online that he has had the bedroom walls painted bright red, with metallic gold trim on all the doors and windows. Charlie Jackson II visited and saw lodged beneath the living room's big bay window was a shiny, new coffin. Charlie says he declined to ask for a look inside.
While answering reporters' questions about the sale of his collection, Forry took the opportunity to hang another black eye on legal adversary Ray Ferry. The Los Angeles Times said Ackerman blamed the sale of his collection on mounting attorneys fees. Though Ackerman won his suit, Ferry has paid none of the $500,000 judgment awarded two years ago for breach of contract and trademark infringement. Instead, Ferry transferred his assets to associates and filed bankruptcy. However, U.S. Bankruptcy Court has already ruled many of these transfers are fraudulent. Still pending is the transfer of the Famous Monsters trademark to Ferry's attorneys. Ackerman told the Times he has incurred "several hundred thousand dollars" of litigation expenses
