According to John Hitchcock, Alex Toth passed away this morning at around 7 am. I had braced myself for the eventuality weeks back when he went into the hospital, but I'm a ridiculous optimist. When he pulled through and sent word out that he was on the mend, I got my hopes up that he would live to see the book Hitchcock and Billy Ingram worked so hard on. I was taking pleasure at the thought of sending him a box right away- I even daydreamed about catching a flight down to L.A. and delivering them myself. But at least we can take some solace that the guys sent Alex a galley and he approved of how they did it.

I'm so grateful that Jeff Rose took it upon himself a few years ago to create the Tothfans website. He coded it himself, filled it with all the great content he could find and hosted it on a server in his basement-- and that effort has brought people together from all over the world in appreciation of one the giants of the medium. That site and it's Toth Page of the Day brought the work alive for all new fans in addition to making old ones happy. And when Alex was hospitalized, the avalanche of mail he got was thanks to the community built by Tothfans. I can't imagine anything more rewarding for a creator near the end than to be able to read so many heartfelt thanks and tributes directly. From what I hear, it meant everything.

I'll write more this week after I've had time to collect my thoughts.