I didn’t mention it at the time, but Bruce Townley died on October 17, 2024 — one of the more brutal endings I know of, fell in his apartment on Washington near Polk, couldn’t get up (yeah, just like the commercials), and it took about 3 days before someone heard moaning, or they noticed they hadn’t seen him in awhile and asked for a welfare check.
Rushed to the hospital, then the ICU, but his systems had begun to fail from the ordeal. They treated him for a few weeks, he got out of ICU, could talk and receive visitors, went back into the ICU and bowed out.
Briefly, I was involved in the saga. A neighbor trying to find contacts Googled Bruce and found my plug for his zine Oblong. Figured from the tone I liked Bruce, which I did. And I guess I was easiest to reach.
But I wasn’t close enough to know if he had siblings, so I referred the guy to one of Bruce’s pals in San Francisco sf fandom, and she took it from there.
His posse of pals in fandom now have turned out a memorial book, Bruzine, with memoirs from some and many selections from his fan writing and artwork. Remember, Bruce was pretty funny.
If you knew him but haven’t heard about the tribute, there you go. If otherwise curious, you can dip into the online file of his zine Oblong which I linked to and see if you want more.
In my archives you’ll find a post in which Bruce lists his 25 fave films. Any film fan should check it out, and recognize a fellow traveler.
