shadroch Posted September 3, 2017 Share Posted September 3, 2017 (edited) One of the most influential people in the hobby in the 1970s, he founded The Buyers Guide to Comic Fandom, which morphed into The Comic Buyers Guide after he sold. He also published a number of Golden Age reprints under the DynaPubs label. These were mine and many others first exposure to Golden Age material. I might not have been able to splurge for $200 for a copy of Action 1, but $3 postpaid for a copy of Worlds Fair Comics was doable. He seems to have faded into obscurity, all but forgotten by the hobby he had a major role in starting. Edited September 3, 2017 by shadroch JTLarsen and Larryw7 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lizards2 Posted September 3, 2017 Share Posted September 3, 2017 I couldn't find much of anything but this photo gallery is kind of neat: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Alan_Light Senormac 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot Man Posted September 3, 2017 Share Posted September 3, 2017 Sadly, he passed away years ago. The Buyer's Guide was the EBay of comic books back in them day. Tony S 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadroch Posted September 3, 2017 Author Share Posted September 3, 2017 4 minutes ago, Robot Man said: Sadly, he passed away years ago. The Buyer's Guide was the EBay of comic books back in them day. Do you have any information on that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senormac Posted September 4, 2017 Share Posted September 4, 2017 5 hours ago, shadroch said: 5 hours ago, Robot Man said: Sadly, he passed away years ago. The Buyer's Guide was the EBay of comic books back in them day. Do you have any information on that? That's terrible news I find it very sad when anyone dies younger than I am, and Allan must have been. I too would like to know what happened to him ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrooge Posted September 4, 2017 Share Posted September 4, 2017 8 hours ago, shadroch said: Do you have any information on that? I am not sure about RMan's info. Alan Light contributed a reminiscence of the early years of the Buyer's Guide under his helm in the 2014 issue of Alter Ego # 122 in which he writes about the cancellation of the pub that took place in 2013. So, Alan Light was still alive in 2013 / 2014. Maybe RMan's years ago refers to the past couple of years only? Sadly the article did not provide any information about his then-current occupation. Maybe others know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadroch Posted September 4, 2017 Author Share Posted September 4, 2017 (edited) I found an old gmail account. I'm thinking of writing to it. It would be great if he were alive, and if he consented to popping up here. TGTCF was so much more than the Ebay of the day. Edited September 4, 2017 by shadroch Tony S 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot Man Posted September 4, 2017 Share Posted September 4, 2017 I can't remember where I heard it but it was only a few years ago. I think cancer took him. Odd, that there is nothing about him except his work on the Buyer's Guide. Isn't everything on the Internet? I do know in his later years he was doing a lot of celebrity photographs and attended the Academy Awards for several years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimjum12 Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 20 hours ago, Scrooge said: I am not sure about RMan's info. Alan Light contributed a reminiscence of the early years of the Buyer's Guide under his helm in the 2014 issue of Alter Ego # 122 in which he writes about the cancellation of the pub that took place in 2013. So, Alan Light was still alive in 2013 / 2014. Maybe RMan's years ago refers to the past couple of years only? Sadly the article did not provide any information about his then-current occupation. Maybe others know. Bob may have him mixed up wit G.B. Love who sold the Rocket's Blast(?) to Alan Light back in the day. GOD BLESS... -jimbo(a friend of jesus) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot Man Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 11 minutes ago, jimjum12 said: Bob may have him mixed up wit G.B. Love who sold the Rocket's Blast(?) to Alan Light back in the day. GOD BLESS... -jimbo(a friend of jesus) You might be right. Funny that there is pretty much nothing on the net of him currently. Anybody know Maggie Thompson? She would probably know. Anybody know why Gary Carter dropped out of fandom? He was huge in the day. I thought I heard he was teaching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moondog Posted September 6, 2017 Share Posted September 6, 2017 On 9/4/2017 at 8:50 PM, Robot Man said: You might be right. Funny that there is pretty much nothing on the net of him currently. Anybody know Maggie Thompson? She would probably know. Anybody know why Gary Carter dropped out of fandom? He was huge in the day. I thought I heard he was teaching. I remember reading something about him being an usher or something similar at the Academy Awards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadroch Posted September 6, 2017 Author Share Posted September 6, 2017 I've found a lot of photos of him and famous people ,circa late 1980s, and several of him in a tux holding an Emmy. Photos of him and friends inside the hall during rehearsals and such, and a couple of him standing by a limo outside a film studio. I'm amazed there is so little on him on the web. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
namisgr Posted September 6, 2017 Share Posted September 6, 2017 On 9/4/2017 at 9:50 PM, Robot Man said: Anybody know why Gary Carter dropped out of fandom? He was huge in the day. I thought I heard he was teaching. According to comicbook database information on the web: Today, Gary is the Dean of the Chabot College School of the Arts in the San Francisco Bay area. Tony S 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senormac Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 18 hours ago, shadroch said: I've found a lot of photos of him and famous people ,circa late 1980s, and several of him in a tux holding an Emmy. Photos of him and friends inside the hall during rehearsals and such, and a couple of him standing by a limo outside a film studio. I'm amazed there is so little on him on the web. I'm amazed that this comic book forum.... which in my opinion is at the top of the pyramid for comic book forums....... has no info on Alan from any of it's members. None. Doesn't anyone know the man ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jools&jim Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 I'm certain Maggie Thompson would know, but I couldn't find any current contact info for her. On the other hand, her son (Stephen Thompson) hosts something on NPR called the "Pop Culture Happy Hour": https://www.facebook.com/pchh I'm not on Facebook, but maybe someone who is could message him and ask him to ask his mom, or (better) have her chime in here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot Man Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 1 hour ago, jools&jim said: I'm certain Maggie Thompson would know, but I couldn't find any current contact info for her. On the other hand, her son (Stephen Thompson) hosts something on NPR called the "Pop Culture Happy Hour": https://www.facebook.com/pchh I'm not on Facebook, but maybe someone who is could message him and ask him to ask his mom, or (better) have her chime in here! She writes a column for Steve Geppi's Scoop on line newsletter. Yeah, it would be great to have her on here. She could really tell some great stories. I 'll bet she's got some cool photos too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senormac Posted September 17, 2017 Share Posted September 17, 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaykin Stevens Posted September 17, 2017 Share Posted September 17, 2017 Back Issue #100, released last week, was solicited as including the story of The Buyer’s Guide by founder Alan Light. F For Fake, Senormac and Larryw7 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrooge Posted September 17, 2017 Share Posted September 17, 2017 2 hours ago, Chaykin Stevens said: Back Issue #100, released last week, was solicited as including the story of The Buyer’s Guide by founder Alan Light. Yes, I received my copy on Wednesday and checked if there was any information about Alan's current activities in the article and none were mentioned so I didn't post but, unless the piece was written a while back and sat on the publisher's shelf, that's another indication that Alan is still around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmehdy Posted September 17, 2017 Share Posted September 17, 2017 (edited) back in the day, it was the comic book collectors lifeline.....he and bob overstreet deserve to be in the comic book hall of fame as early collectors and both help us to be where we are today..on the boards and the CGC...if you are READING this Alan..THANK YOU Edited September 17, 2017 by Mmehdy Tony S and Senormac 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
