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Former comic book distributor Ron Forman of Comics Unlimited died yesterday at the age of 79, after suffering from cancer. Ron was a comic book dealer in the late sixties and seventies and exhibited at one of the early, classic Phil Seuling International Comic Art Conventions in 1970. He then worked for early direct market distributor Seagate Distribution set up by Phil Seuling, he set up a business with fellow Seuling employee Walter Wang which became Comics Unlimited from 1977 to 1994, specialising in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions of the US, until they – like many comics distributors of the day – were bought out by Steve Geppi‘s Diamond Comic Distributors.
He became a professor of mathematics at Kingsborough Community College, a City University of New York, in Brooklyn and hosted and produced Sweet Sounds, a Sunday radio series devoted to classic Sinatra and Billie Holiday and Broadway music, on WKRB radio since 1999, and a keen reviewer for Cabaret Scenes Magazine. Last year he discovered that restaurant owners and talent bookers, the Ganz Twins, were his cousins. He is survived by his wife Ann, and his sons, Eric and Dave.
Family members posted the following notice to Facebook; “Our beloved friend, teacher, mentor, businessman, mathematician, radio show host, grandfather and my father Ron Forman left this world at 2:25 a.m. on December 8th after a full day surrounded by family telling stories and listening to his music. A self-described “people person”, Ron loved people and didn’t want you worrying about him (and didn’t have the energy to properly respond to all of you) as he battled a very aggressive form of cancer. He actually had been silently battling it for several months but chose to continue living his life, as only he could, until he literally could no longer lift himself off the floor. He remained hopeful and optimistic to the end.”
The funeral will take place this Sunday, the 11th of December at 11:30 am at the Plaza Jewish Community Chapel in Manhattan. A virtual option is also being provided by Plaza.