I’m sick of writing obituaries, so I decided to write about a LIVING legend in comics.

Peter David is a fellow gypsy of the convention circuit, a guy whose work I admire and whose friendship has been typical of those formed over years of sporadic meetings on the road. We first met in San Diego back somewhere in the latter half of the previous century, when the show was small enough to get to know other pros over dinner. Next time was in Fort Worth, where we had dinner at Joe T’s Mexican restaurant with Bob Wayne and Terry Austin. Terry sported a $200 pair of cowboy boots and a new Stetson he had bought for about a hundred bucks (this was in the days when a hundred bucks would buy you more than dinner at McDonalds). Peter was wearing a ten-dollar hat that probably fell apart in the first rain and reasoned that he should be able to find a pair of boots for twenty bucks. I think they were made of cardboard. Terry reached up and hung his hat on the impressive set of longhorns mounted over the archway in the restaurant—Peter had to frisbee his to get it up there. Getting it down was  another problem, solved by dragging one of the picnic table benches over and hopping up (Yes, we were young enough to hop!).

As is often the case, whenever we met, we were always a bit dismayed to discover our waistlines had grown as our hairlines had receded, but Peter’s attitude never changed. He never lost his sense of humor, even when he lost his health. The challenges he’s faced over the past decade haven’t dimmed his talent.

A few years ago, when Peter was unable to travel, his wife Kathleen came up to me at a convention and said, ”Peter wanted you to have this.” It was a signed copy of Peter’s Mr. Sulu Grabbed My Ass, and Other Highlights from a Life in Comics, Novels, Television, Films and Video Games. Brilliant, funny and insightful– I’m not ashamed to say it became my favorite bathroom reading material.

Recently, Peter’s battle with health issues has suffered a major blow thanks to Medicaid cutbacks (Thank you ever so bloody much, Elon Musk!). In response, Graham Murphy has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help out. You can find it here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-peter-david

Please visit the site and do what you can to help a guy who has left an indelible mark on the comic industry.

–Mike Grell