"January 6, 2012
Richard Alf, one of the cofounders of San Diego’s Comic-Con, has died from pancreatic cancer at age 59. Alf joined up with a band of volunteers in 1970 to start the now-annual convention celebrating comic books.
Friend and fellow Comic-Con co-founder Mike Towry says Alf fronted a few thousand dollars to pay for the convention for the first three years and gave other co-founders rides in his car.
In 1970, the first Comic-Con was relatively modest compared to the convention that now draws more than 125,000 people to San Diego every summer for a 4-day extravaganza.
Alf also founded the Comic Kingdom shop in North Park in the 1970s. Alf was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer in December. He is survived by his mother."
Jason is a big fan of con's - namely Dragon*Con, so when I was doing my search ritual and came across this news, I thought it was worth sharing (albeit a little late.)
The last words of the article really got to me, as they are fairly rare. One isn't usually survived by a mother. Sad.
