Sheldon Dorf, Comic-Con co-founder dies, aged 76

edonline · #1 11-04-2009, 03:25 PM

http://www.digitalspy.com/comics/new...s-aged-76.html

Comic-Con co-founder dies, aged 76

Wednesday, November 4 2009, 1:58pm EST

By Mark Langshaw, Gaming/Comics Reporter

Comic-Con International co-founder Sheldon Dorf has passed away in San Diego's Sharp Memorial Hospital.

The former president of the convention had been suffering from diabetes-related complications. He lost his battle with the illness yesterday at the age of 76.

"The convention is, of course, his legacy but it goes deeper than that. Shel was a big booster of new talent. He wanted very much to be in comics himself and it was almost like he said, 'If I can't make it, I'll do everything I can to help everyone else'," comic book scribe Mark Evanier wrote on his website.

"He encouraged and aided a number of young writers and artists who went on to become major talents, and of course the very existence of that convention has made hundreds, perhaps thousands of careers not only in comics but in allied fields, as well. Those of us who care about comics are forever in his debt."

Dorf organised the first Golden State Comic-Con in conjunction with Ken Krueger in 1970. Expanding each year, the San Diego event eventually grew into Comic-Con International, chaired by the co-founder until the mid-1980s.