On 18 July 2012 fandom lost another true fan. Dr. Kennard
Allen Grimes, better known as Ken Grimes.
Ken was a well-known feature of CoastCons and in fact was an attendee of
the first CoastCon, way back in 1978.
He attended while Ken was working on a degree in microbiology at USM in
Hattiesburg. Later he made it a point
to travel down from Tennessee, where he made his home to attend CoastCons.
For years, he was CoastCon’s official photographer and
keeper of the archive, taking photos and keeping a record of CoastCon’s
activities. Every year he traveled from
Tennessee with the archive to exhibit to exhibit its arcane contents to
wondering fans. He was honored as CoastCon 35’s Fan Guest of Honor this past
year, for his years of support and work.
Less known about the fan Ken Grimes was the fact that he
held a Ph.D. in microbiology, so he was not only a fan of SF, but was part of
the cutting edge of scientific discovery.
He also played the banjo, loved bluegrass music and SF, scale models,
and was a big attendee of conventions, such as CoastCon, Dragon Con and several
World Cons over the years.
Ken was always there with his camera and archive and became
a permanent fixture of CoastCon. He
died suddenly and his memorial service was held at Mount Olive Cemetery Funeral
Home. We will miss your quiet
fannishness, Ken, our ranks are a little thinner with your passing. I wish I had chatted with you’re a little
longer, but I didn’t know this was your last attendance.
I would like to put out a request to the present sitting
committee of CoastCon, Inc. to name the archive in honor of Ken Grimes. I think it’s a fitting reminder of the
perennial fan and supporter of CoastCon.
CoastConFan
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