Andrew Porter tells us that Sheldon L. "Shel" Dorf died 5 November 2009 of kidney failure (he had suffered from diabetes, and been hospitalized for about a year). Born in Detroit, Michigan on 5 July 1933, he was a comic artist who founded the San Diego ComicCon (SDCC). The convention has since grown to a celebration of comics, film, television, games, and speculative fiction, attracting 125,000 people each year.
Dorf studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, then moved to New York to start his career as a designer and artist. He worked on Dick Tracy (and was later a consultant on Warren Beatty's 1990 film adaptation of the strip).
He started what would grow into SDCC in 1970, soon after moving to California, when he ran a one-day convention with Forrest J Ackerman as the guest of honor. At first, it was the Golden State Comic Book Convention, and hosted by a series of hotels until finally arriving at the San Diego Convention Center in 1991. Dorf ran SDCC for 15 years.
Richard Alf, Barry Alfonso, and Mike Towry, who "were among the very first group of fans to join with Shel on his quest to create the SDCC and make it a reality," have already started the Shel Dorf Tribute Site.
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