Just thought I’d duck onto the net before leaving for work and I found out that Rory Root, owner of Comic Relief in California had passed away. He was a good guy, and a wonderful colleague, and a visionary in an industry that lacks them. He gave a lot of his health for the medium and the industry, he made no secret of that… I hope he was happy, and realized how much many of us appreciated him.
– Christopher
You got it absolutely right Chris, he was a retailing visionary. The first time I spoke with him (sometime in the 1990s I think) I was blown away. Here was an actual comics retailer who was talking about and emphasizing book format comics, had joined ABA and was working closely with librarians. It was like talking to somebody from the future. He and Comic Relief were like the living example of every thing I was obcessed with about comics and the future of comics in bookstores. What a guy. The comics community just lost a retail superhero.
As a librarian who loves comics and graphic novels, I spent a day with him at the Diamond booth at ALA in 2001 (in San Francisco). I was blown away to find a retailer who so “got it” about libraries and graphic novels. That was a wonderful, memorable day, talking with librarians, talking with Rory. It was the only time I met him, but what a time!