Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Taylor, Larry
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
d. 2014
History
Larry Taylor was a reader and writer who expressed his “fandom” by organizing conventions to which he could invite writers, artists, athletes, and actors whom he admired, for his own enjoyment as well as others’. From the time as a boy when his mother bought the Encyclopedia Britannica for him, he was a voracious reader, and the movie theater was also a frequent boyhood destination. He met his future wife, Laurie Gelb, while attending the University of Houston, where he chaired the University's first sf/f convention, Collegecon, in 1980 and 1981. Guests at these UH shows included Harlan Ellison, Burne Hogarth, Gil Kane, Robert Sheckley, Robert Silverberg, George Takei, Walter Koenig, and Leonard Nimoy.
Among the conventions that Larry attended simply as a fan was AggieCon (1981). He was friends with Becky Matthews, the con chairperson at that time.
After leaving the University of Houston, Larry briefly owned a Montrose bookstore, Metropolis, with his wife, during which time their son Sean was born. Thereafter, Larry organized and promoted diverse conventions in the Houston area, featuring various combinations of comic books, toys, sf/f, sports and non-sports cards, and movie memorabilia, until moving to the East Coast in 1997. While in Houston, he also operated part-time retail comic shops at the Four Seasons, Westbury, and Cole’s (Pearland) flea markets at various times, also attending other conventions as a dealer.
Many of Larry’s shows featured well-known artists and writers, e.g., Spain Rodriguez, Don Rosa, John Severin, William Stout, and the Hernandez Brothers, as well as Houston figures such as columnist Jeff Millar and Astros players. However, Larry also produced many dealer-driven shows to allow fans to enjoy interacting with other fans and dealers without a large admission cost, and sometimes for free.
Larry contributed to several charities through auctions at his shows and at the shop of his friend, Roy Bonario, also well known in Houston fandom.
Numerous comic book industry professionals first attended his shows as fans or emerging artists, including Doug Hazlewood, Chip Mosher, Joe Nozemack, Martin Thomas, and Shannon Wheeler.
Later in life, Larry’s fiction writing was recognized with several honors and awards. He died in Seattle in 2014.