A Grisly Mystery, w/Media Connections, Touches My Life
Posted: June 11th, 2010, 10:36 am
I'm struggling to believe this might be the fate of an old friend of mine:
Ex-Vermont Cartoon Writer Missing
By CHRIS GAROFOLO / Reformer Staff / Associated Press
Friday June 11, 2010
BRATTLEBORO, VT. -- Florida police say a former cartoon writer who once called Vermont home is missing and presumed dead after his van was found abandoned at a Tampa hotel in mid-May.
Authorities in Zephyrhills, Fla., located the van of Stephen Perry, 56, on May 16 with a severed arm inside. Police have not yet declared him a homicide victim, nor did they say if they knew the whereabouts of Perry’s body, but it has been one month since he was first reported missing.
His home was found ransacked. His two roommates, 46-year-old James Davis and 49-year-old Roxanne Davis, were arrested on unrelated charges. However, both remain "persons of interest" in the investigation.
Perry, who used to live and work in Brattleboro, became well-known in the 1980s for the popular cartoon series "Thundercats" and his numerous comic books. He also scripted the "Silverhawks" cartoon as well.
Even with his success with the "Thundercats" franchise, Perry did not make much money from his work. Friends said Perry, who is originally from Maine, did not receive royalties of any kinds from the popular television show. "Thundercats" debuted in January 1985 and produced more than 100 episodes until its cancellation in 1989. "Silverhawks" also was a marginal success, debuting in 1986 and running for 65 episodes, four of which Perry penned.
"The pay was far better than any comic book scripting freelance had ever reaped, but these jobs were done under far more aggressive work-for-hire terms than was the norm in comic books," said Stephen R. Bissette, a well-known comics writer and teacher at the Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction, on his blog. "Despite having created a number of characters from the TV shows, [Perry] saw no royalties of any kind, and when the Kenner Toy lines featured action figures of his characters, he had to buy them for his sons," wrote Bissette. "More than once, I loaned Steve the money to do so." Bissette said he met Perry at Johnson State College in 1974, where the two sparked a friendship and oftentimes would collaborate on story ideas.
Soft-spoken, but very sure of himself, Perry was very devoted to his writing. His first milestone came with Bissette in 1981 when the two crafted a series for Marvel Comics, accumulating critical praise from within the industry.
"That was pretty much his primary focus, and that remained the case until later in his life," Bissette told the Reformer. "He took a real downturn in the 90s when he stopped believing he was a writer." Prior to his whirlwind career in animation, he ended up applying for a job at the now-departed Moondance Comics in Harmony Lot.
"Steve came in and applied," said Moondance’s former owner Alan B. Goldstein. "And I hired him. I know he timed it so he knew he would be the last interview of the day."
The two partners became close friends over the next four years working together in the comic book industry. Perry would go on to meet his wife -- they later divorced -- while employed at the comics shop.
Friends who knew him during his years in Brattleboro said he was an interesting fellow to talk with, but he still had to scrounge for money.
Goldstein described him as an intelligent, creative and innovative writer.
And a good friend. "We were teammates. We used to go to New York City or Boston for comic shows and conventions, we had a good time with our friends down there," said Goldstein. "He was a good person to be with."
Goldstein even credited Perry for coming up with the idea for First Run Video, Brattleboro’s independent video rental store on Putney Road. Goldstein is perhaps best-known in town for running the store until its recent sale.
"First Run Video was Steve’s idea," he said. At the time, Perry worked at Video Headquarters in Keene, N.H., when he and Goldstein became friendly with the owner. Perry suggested they open a similar store in Brattleboro, and the idea took off from there. The two had a slight falling out after Perry declined to participate in the video store, but Goldstein said they managed to repair their friendship over the years. In the last two decades, the old friends saw each other only once or twice, however they communicated via e-mail from time to time. Perry appealed to Goldstein, as he did with many of his closest friends last year. In one e-mail, Perry said "farewell, it’s been an honor" in what would be his final mass communication.
Diagnosed with potentially fatal bladder cancer in March 2009, Perry was fighting poverty and illness without health insurance. He reached out to his friends and family for assistance later that spring.
"I did what I could to help him. I still cherish his friendship," said Goldstein. "He did not deserve what he received, he just didn’t."
Bissette agreed, saying friends would help him by providing food, money or time assisting the single father. "Like a lot of Americans that don’t have health care, he avoided going to the hospital until the cancer advanced too far," he said. "No one forecasted where it was going, that it was going to end violently, as it has appeared to have."
He remembers last August making an appeal for financial donations to assist Perry. Several months later, The Hero Initiative, a nonprofit group dedicated to helping comic book veterans by providing financial aid in emergency situations, extended relief to for Perry.
Through the initiative, Perry was able to re-establish his contacts in the comics community and began shopping some of his more recent works.
"He was writing almost to the last weeks," said Bissette. "While being a single parent fighting bladder cancer."
Perry, Goldstein, & Bissette are all old friends/co-workers/business partners of mine from throughout the late 70's - early/mid 80's.
This has left me feeling shocked, negilgent, saddened . . and suddenly, very old.
. . .
Ex-Vermont Cartoon Writer Missing
By CHRIS GAROFOLO / Reformer Staff / Associated Press
Friday June 11, 2010
BRATTLEBORO, VT. -- Florida police say a former cartoon writer who once called Vermont home is missing and presumed dead after his van was found abandoned at a Tampa hotel in mid-May.
Authorities in Zephyrhills, Fla., located the van of Stephen Perry, 56, on May 16 with a severed arm inside. Police have not yet declared him a homicide victim, nor did they say if they knew the whereabouts of Perry’s body, but it has been one month since he was first reported missing.
His home was found ransacked. His two roommates, 46-year-old James Davis and 49-year-old Roxanne Davis, were arrested on unrelated charges. However, both remain "persons of interest" in the investigation.
Perry, who used to live and work in Brattleboro, became well-known in the 1980s for the popular cartoon series "Thundercats" and his numerous comic books. He also scripted the "Silverhawks" cartoon as well.
Even with his success with the "Thundercats" franchise, Perry did not make much money from his work. Friends said Perry, who is originally from Maine, did not receive royalties of any kinds from the popular television show. "Thundercats" debuted in January 1985 and produced more than 100 episodes until its cancellation in 1989. "Silverhawks" also was a marginal success, debuting in 1986 and running for 65 episodes, four of which Perry penned.
"The pay was far better than any comic book scripting freelance had ever reaped, but these jobs were done under far more aggressive work-for-hire terms than was the norm in comic books," said Stephen R. Bissette, a well-known comics writer and teacher at the Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction, on his blog. "Despite having created a number of characters from the TV shows, [Perry] saw no royalties of any kind, and when the Kenner Toy lines featured action figures of his characters, he had to buy them for his sons," wrote Bissette. "More than once, I loaned Steve the money to do so." Bissette said he met Perry at Johnson State College in 1974, where the two sparked a friendship and oftentimes would collaborate on story ideas.
Soft-spoken, but very sure of himself, Perry was very devoted to his writing. His first milestone came with Bissette in 1981 when the two crafted a series for Marvel Comics, accumulating critical praise from within the industry.
"That was pretty much his primary focus, and that remained the case until later in his life," Bissette told the Reformer. "He took a real downturn in the 90s when he stopped believing he was a writer." Prior to his whirlwind career in animation, he ended up applying for a job at the now-departed Moondance Comics in Harmony Lot.
"Steve came in and applied," said Moondance’s former owner Alan B. Goldstein. "And I hired him. I know he timed it so he knew he would be the last interview of the day."
The two partners became close friends over the next four years working together in the comic book industry. Perry would go on to meet his wife -- they later divorced -- while employed at the comics shop.
Friends who knew him during his years in Brattleboro said he was an interesting fellow to talk with, but he still had to scrounge for money.
Goldstein described him as an intelligent, creative and innovative writer.
And a good friend. "We were teammates. We used to go to New York City or Boston for comic shows and conventions, we had a good time with our friends down there," said Goldstein. "He was a good person to be with."
Goldstein even credited Perry for coming up with the idea for First Run Video, Brattleboro’s independent video rental store on Putney Road. Goldstein is perhaps best-known in town for running the store until its recent sale.
"First Run Video was Steve’s idea," he said. At the time, Perry worked at Video Headquarters in Keene, N.H., when he and Goldstein became friendly with the owner. Perry suggested they open a similar store in Brattleboro, and the idea took off from there. The two had a slight falling out after Perry declined to participate in the video store, but Goldstein said they managed to repair their friendship over the years. In the last two decades, the old friends saw each other only once or twice, however they communicated via e-mail from time to time. Perry appealed to Goldstein, as he did with many of his closest friends last year. In one e-mail, Perry said "farewell, it’s been an honor" in what would be his final mass communication.
Diagnosed with potentially fatal bladder cancer in March 2009, Perry was fighting poverty and illness without health insurance. He reached out to his friends and family for assistance later that spring.
"I did what I could to help him. I still cherish his friendship," said Goldstein. "He did not deserve what he received, he just didn’t."
Bissette agreed, saying friends would help him by providing food, money or time assisting the single father. "Like a lot of Americans that don’t have health care, he avoided going to the hospital until the cancer advanced too far," he said. "No one forecasted where it was going, that it was going to end violently, as it has appeared to have."
He remembers last August making an appeal for financial donations to assist Perry. Several months later, The Hero Initiative, a nonprofit group dedicated to helping comic book veterans by providing financial aid in emergency situations, extended relief to for Perry.
Through the initiative, Perry was able to re-establish his contacts in the comics community and began shopping some of his more recent works.
"He was writing almost to the last weeks," said Bissette. "While being a single parent fighting bladder cancer."
Perry, Goldstein, & Bissette are all old friends/co-workers/business partners of mine from throughout the late 70's - early/mid 80's.
This has left me feeling shocked, negilgent, saddened . . and suddenly, very old.
. . .