RIP Jerry Weist

February 25, 2011 12:28 PM

Jerry Weist - comic and sf/f collector, retailer, author, and all around nerd - has died. Besides founding The Million Year Picnic, one of the first comics specialty stores in the US and almost certainly the first in New England, he had a long association with Sotheby's auction house for comics-related auctions. He also created Squa Tront, a fanzine dedicated to EC Comics. His book about Ray Bradbury, Bradbury: An Illustrated Life" was nominated for the 2003 Hugo award for "Best Related Work".
posted by rmd1023 (13 comments total)

Sad news! MYP is my LCBS.
posted by Sidhedevil at 12:44 PM on February 25, 2011

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posted by Faint of Butt at 12:54 PM on February 25, 2011

Sadness. Million Year Picnic is wonderful.

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posted by kyrademon at 1:06 PM on February 25, 2011

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Million Year Picnic is where I discovered Dykes to Watch Out For, Hothead Paisan (Homicidal Lesbian Terrorist), and Bitchy Bitch. They carried the "Fourth Amendment" totes which sprang up when the MBTA started searching people's bags on the T.
posted by endless_forms at 1:07 PM on February 25, 2011

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posted by Smart Dalek at 2:28 PM on February 25, 2011

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I go out of my way to visit Million Year Picnic whenever I'm in the area. Last time was three weeks ago. Great shop.
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 2:49 PM on February 25, 2011

Thanks for this post, I was thinking of doing an obit post when he passed but for some reason I didn't. Here's an appreciation of Jerry Weist written by his longtime friend and fellow Squa Tront editor Roger Hill.
posted by marxchivist at 3:00 PM on February 25, 2011

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posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 4:00 PM on February 25, 2011

My awesome aunt introduced me amd my cousin to MYP when we were 11 and 9. It was a weekly destination for me when I still lived in the Boston area. It's also one of my favorite smells. RIP.
posted by Scoo at 5:47 PM on February 25, 2011

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A pioneer.
posted by Ron Thanagar at 7:08 PM on February 25, 2011

I didn't live close enough to MYP to go regularly-- Cole's was my hang, and if it was yours too from 1986-1994, MeMail me-- but any loss of a good retailer is a blow to Team Comics.

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posted by fairytale of los angeles at 10:16 PM on February 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

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MYP was one of the bright spots of living in Boston. They probably still have a couple copies of my comic sitting on their shelves.
posted by egypturnash at 11:13 AM on February 26, 2011

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posted by whuppy at 2:34 PM on February 28, 2011