Randy Bathurst’s Death
Reported in Newsweek

Randy Bathurst, a popular fanartist in the Seventies, died of a heart attack on January 10. Someone who knew about it from Mike Glicksohn added Randy’s name to a fannish memorial list weeks ago. I tried to Google a public death notice, unsuccessfully, and have been looking for more details.

I did not expect to discover them in the pages of Newsweek. An article in the March 16 issue on discount funerals, “Where Death Comes Cheap,” begins:

On Jan. 10, Diane and Randy Bathurst were having breakfast when Randy began to feel ill. He excused himself to lie down, and a moment later Diane heard a thud.

The rest of the sad story is in the first paragraph.

Bathurst was a prolific cartoonist who contributed to a lot of fanzines, including the first issue of File 770. Yet he is best remembered for a particular three-dimensional creation: the bheer can cranking a mimeograph on top of the original FAAn Awards.

5 thoughts on “Randy Bathurst’s Death
Reported in Newsweek

  1. If I remember correctly, there were fanzine articles in the late ’70s which mentioned that he was that rarity of rarities, a fan who was also an athlete, as he was on his college diving team.

  2. Wow. Like you, I wouldn’t have expected to see that in Newsweek. Thanks for the link to the additional details.

    I was the someone who added Randy’s name to the SF Memorial List on LiveJournal after seeing a note about it from Joel Zakem. He’s the one who heard about it from Mike Glicksohn.

    My condolences to Diane and the rest of Randy’s family and friends. So fast, so young.

  3. He was a very sweet man and a talented cartoonist. I was very glad to have known him, always delighted in his company and doing cartoon jams. I’m just sorry that I hadn’t been in touch with Randy in many years.

  4. I too looked for a death notice — I guess that’s another thing the cut-rate mortician doesn’t provide. (Usually, death notices are sent to newspapers by the funeral home, and in many cases, newspapers charge a fee to run them.) I guess cheap shots about the deceased (“charge by the pound”) are free.

    Randy was a truly talented artist, and one of those who was always drawing, like Rotsler. He worked in a variety of media — he did chess sets and other sculptures besides the FAAn Awards, and I remember some pieces in stained glass — and he had a wonderful, whimsical sense of humor. He was also a genuinely nice person.

    It was a sad loss when he married and his wife convinced him to work in her family’s florist shop instead of pursuing an art career (not to mention determinedly cutting him off from fandom and his earlier friends).

  5. I’m one of his daughters and it was a sad day. Also his death notices was published in the local Oakland Press the mortician payed for it because my mom wanted it in that one and i really miss him.

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