201402241303.jpg
Over the weekend I was extremely saddened to read of the death of comics writer and historian Bill Baker. He was 55 years old. The cause of death was pneumonia; he died at home.

Baker was a frequent convention buddy, and we’d gone back and forth about him contributing interviews to the Beat over the years, something that never happened primarily because of my own lack of organization. Tom Spurgeon put together a list of Baker’s online interviews, which you should check out. Baker also wrote ICONS: The DC Comics and Wildstorm Art of Jim Lee and several other books about comics art.

Writing about comics isn’t exactly a profession that leaves you rolling in dough. Reading about someone dying at home of pneumonia it’s not to hard to guess at a storyline that might involve a wish not to go to the hospital because of the costs. Or that could not be the reason at all. Reminder; If youa re sick for more than 7 days without a change you need to go to the doctor.

Either way, we’ll miss you, Bill.

9 COMMENTS

  1. Bill was a wonderful man and extremely gifted writer. I had a long talk with his good friend Mark Mazz last night. Mark is planning a gathering in NYC soon to honor Bill. Stay tuned.

  2. Bill was a critical and social nexus of the “comics renaissance” many of us enjoyed in the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti/Detroit area in the 90s. His passion and depth of thinking will be missed in comics culture.

  3. I once had pneumonia and it was the only time in my life that being sick scared me. I am so sorry for Mr. Baker

  4. Bill was a great friend, customer of my store and one of the people who helped me decide to start my own convention. 15 years on the circuit together, long lunches at the coney island before he had to catch a plane to interview someone somewhere at a con for a project he was working….no one will ever replace him, and the industry didn’t fully recognize the valuable tool they had unfortunately until he was gone. Cherish what you got while you got it. cheers Bill!

  5. I didn’t know Bill that well, but always enjoyed chatting with him at Mid Ohio Con and S.P.A.C.E. He seemed like a warm-hearted guy, who will be missed.

  6. We are holding a Wake for Bill Baker in NYC on Saturday, March 1st,
    7:30-8:00pm to arrive. Leave when you want.
    The Molly Wee Pub
    402 8th Avenue
    Manhattan NY 10001
    (212) 967-2627

    Here’s the information for Bill Baker’s funeral in Escanaba, MI.
    Friday, February 28th, 2014
    Crawford Funeral Home
    302 S 13th St,
    Escanaba, MI 49829
    (906) 786-0074

    A very personal Remembrance of Bill Baker
    http://comicscreatornews.com/?p=379

  7. What bothers me is with this man’s body of work, not one of the ‘mainstream’ comic sites have a single solitary world of his passing, but they all have the Godzilla trailer and the latest WB show lineup news.

    Mazz, see you Saturday

    R.I.P. B.B.

  8. Now that my eyes have finally dried, I’d like to add to Heidi’s piece from above. Bill passed from complications with pneumonia, while caring for his frail father who also had pneumonia. Neither Bill nor his father knew it at the time.

    The tragedy here is that Bill knew I would have paid for his doctor visit simply as his friend. He didn’t know he had pneumonia, he simply thought it was a winter flu. So I second Heidi’s advice, if it lingers for 7 days…go to the doctor. I had both strains for the flu last winter at the same time. My doctor was incredulous that I as able to walk in the door. She scolded me, and she was right…who knows what you pick up from 110,000 people at a convention.

Comments are closed.