Absent Friends

[Michael Moorcock]

I was saddened to hear of the death of my old friend (and sometime mentor) Ron Bennett. Ron edited several fanzines, including Skyrack, and was a schoolteacher for most of his life, later becoming a well-known comics dealer. His kindness and good humour was of enormous help to me when I first began producing sf fanzines in the 50s (Burroughsania etc) and I published some fine work by him in both fanzines and professional magazines I edited. He was a great friend and I miss him a great deal.
Also recently dead is Philip Strick, who was an excellent film writer and an erudite critic. We first met when, for reasons he was never especially clear about, he was asked to sit in on the first script discussions for The Final Programme.

[white wolf's son]

Absent friends

It's hard when you lose someone, I lost my Grandmother who was an inspiration to me throughout my life, she was 94 when she passed, still sharp as a tack although frail. It was she who taught me to read and encouraged me, even encouraged her great grand kids as well. She bought me my copy of Count Brass when I was still in school, so it is still, like the rest, as new!! So, you are not alone, Mike, I never thought I would be able to speak to one of my favourite authors, so this is something I can tell MY kids!!

[Marca]

Bit shocked to hear of Ron's death Mike. As you may remember I made contact with him a few months back via ebay which is when he told me he'd had a story published under your Bob Lumley byline. Unfortunately I mislaid his email address a short time after and lost contact. Very sad to hear of this.

Apparently Wilson 'Bob' Tucker has just passed away too at the grand age of 91. Not sure if you ever met him?

[Michael Moorcock]

Yes, I'd just been thinking about him and meaning to get in touch to see how he was doing. Leukemia, unforunately. He was pretty ill in recent years, but always cheerful in correspondence.
Bob Tucker was such an institution, I'd begun to think that he'd discovered the secret of immortality. In a way, of course, he did.
Been a bad year or two, I must say. I guess it's not going to get much better for people of my generation.

[Hieronymus]

I didn't know them but I know what means to loose dearest friends or parents.
Today in the afternoon I went to see my father's tomb, he bought the first Hawkmoon in 77 and then Elric in 79...
You're not alone Mike

[Michael Moorcock]

Ron's death seems a surprise to everyone. He was sending cheerful emails until only a few weeks ago. He died of leukemia.

[Hieronymus]

Unfortunately leukemia is again one of the worst illness.
Many years ago, when I was 20, my cousin died by it... so I've known how terrible it is

[Michael Moorcock]

The terrible thing for Ron was that his young daughter died of it.

[Reinart der Fuchs]

I worked at a software retail store some years ago. I became friends with our district manager, who had survived Hodgkin's Disease. Some months after I left the company, I called him at home, only to discover that he had suddenly died of it. The poor bastard left two kids younger than seven, one of which answered the phone when I asked for his dad.

[lucky-strike]

Dick Ellingsworth here... It must be around 35 years since I last saw Ron, but I'm still saddened by the news. Too many old friends aren't around any more. I assume you knew Skyrack is being reprinted on the web? I've never been much on nostalgia, but I've enjoyed dipping into the news from all those years ago, and Ron's continued presence on the web is, I think, a good tribute to a man who spent so much energy keeping us all informed.

[Michael Moorcock]

Hi, Dick. Nice to hear from you. I agree about nostalgia. I don't much miss the past, but I do miss old friends. Ron was a very good friend to me, when I was a callow 15-year-old, along with people like Vince Clarke, ArthurThomson and Ken Bulmer. All gone now. But not forgotten. I wonder if modern fans are as genial and helpful as those guys. One of the reasons I keep in touch with readers via this site and elsewhere is because of their example. And I think every one of them appeared, like you, at some point in Tarzan Adventures. Brooke Street was very handy, after all, for The Globe! Happily Jim Cawthorn is still with us. Must be that good Gateshead air...

[lucky-strike]

...and Sid Bounds, and Frank Arnold. There were so many gentle people in the group. And when I was a spotty 15 year old, you were just as kind to me. I'm not the effusive type, but thank you for everything you did for me... I'm overjoyed to hear Jim is still with us. Please give him my best wishes next time you contact him.

[Michael Moorcock]

I certainly will. He'll be glad to know we're in touch!

[Zax]

Much as I hate to add to this catalogue of dead people, Mike, did you ever know or meet Tony Tyler? Might he have hung professionally with the likes of Mick Farren? I remembered the name from the music press (NME) and as author of, I think, a book on Tolkien, but it was only after I read the obit in the latest issue of MacUser magazine that their contributor was the same Tony Tyler. He was 62. I was similarly taken aback by the death of Giovanni Dadomo some years ago - he'd fetched up in the hi-fi press. Old rock writers go some improbable places, but at least they go to them.

I'll be a mere 50 in December (my birthday's on the same day as that of some beardy author bloke whose name escapes me for the moment ) and alarmingly I'm already starting to notice the reaper taking swipes at friends and colleagues of my age. I've observed one horribly protracted leukemia death, another chum is fighting cancer and slowly losing and so on. I can't help feeling this is coming too soon - I hadn't planned to get fatalistic about this kind of this for another 10-15 years.

[Michael Moorcock]

I don't think you should be worrying too much about the GR turning up.
I must admit I lost a few when I was around 50, but then I'd lost a lot, speaking of the drug and rock and roll culture, long before then. It's the old, clean-living friends I'm beginning to get surprised by. I don't think I knew Tyler, but I'm sorry Dadomo's gone. I last saw him some years ago when he wanted to write a piece on Harlan Ellison for NME. Took Harlan to Blitz for the rendezvous and Harlan was somewhat freaked by people I thought were rather conventional (at least for the time), including Dave Vanion and the rest of the Damned, who were all great fans of his! So Harlan didn't stay to get interviewed by a rather baffled Dadomo!