Rory Root - owner of the Comic Relief comics shop in Berkeley that has been a bedrock of the industry for as long as I've been seriously reading comics, much less writing any of them - passed away today from what sounds to have been complications from hernia surgery over the weekend.
Every time I walked into his store, or saw him at his booth at Con, within two minutes he could lay hands on something in his inventory that he knew I'd like, that he thought maybe I'd missed and would be damn glad to have heard about, and he was right every time. He was that kind of comics store owner - knew what was good, knew what his customers were into, knew a good match when he saw one.
When there are so many terrible stores out there that carry nothing but the lowest common denominator crap that comics has to offer, his was a perfect example of the opposite, one of the very best stores anywhere - a giant library of Interesting and Strange and Fun.
Thanks for all the great funnybooks over the years, Rory.
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For consideration: one more person without whom San Diego just won't be the same
I'll miss him.