*R.I.P.-RORY ROOT..
Man..Some devastating news..The big Kahuna of Comic Relief, Rory Root, passed away yesterday after being in a coma for a few days.

Everyone in the indie comics industry knows what Rory meant to the world of comics. He welcomed and championed both mainstream and indie/underground comix work. He embraced my own stuff from the very beginning, selling my homemade zines and cassette tapes of my band in the back of the old location in the early 1990s (Comic Relief has always solds more of my books than any other store). He did this for everybody and he always had a minute to give advice and encouragement.

It’s weird, because I had walked into Comic Relief just yesterday, at about 2pm. I didn’t look at any books, I just stood at the front counter looking around the space, because the store was one of the things I missed most about living in the Bay Area. I didn’t expect to see Rory, because he hadn’t been in the shop the last few times I had been there. But I thought about him and the conversation we had at this year’s Wondercon about the role of comix shops in the age of the internet (He never stopped schooling me).

He passed in the hospital two hours later.

Rory: You will be missed. But I’m sure you’re scoutin’ out some decent Indian Food places for when the rest of us join you.

Cheers,

Keef