Kevin VanHook's Blog

My friend MIKE GOLD--

Dear Friend:

I’m writing to ask you for your help.

As you may know, our friend and colleague John Ostrander has had glaucoma for over two decades. Last month John underwent a series of operations that might have saved his remaining eyesight – so far, there is absolutely every reason to be optimistic. John’s usually optimistic, but I am as well and that probably says something.

The cost of these procedures has been astronomical, and are only partially covered by insurance. And by “partially,” I’m being polite. John has to go up to Boston repeatedly for treatment, and on two occasions he and Mary had to spend a week there for the actual surgery. Like so many other Americans John is without sufficient medical coverage to cover these types of expenses; furthermore, his insurance will expire in about a year.

With the kind assistance of the Peter Katz and the folks at Wizard Entertainment, Adriane Nash and I are organizing a benefit auction to raise funds for John’s medical expenses. We will be having this auction Saturday night at the Chicago Comic Con (a.k.a. Chicago Wizard World) to be held at the Rosemont Convention Center near O’Hare Field on August 6^th through 9^th. Actually, the auction will be at one of the nearby hotels that evening; Wizard Entertainment is making the arrangements and the location will be announced at the show.

The reasons for running the benefit in Chicago are obvious to most: both John and I are Chicagoans who maintain quite a history with folks in the comics, theater, arts, newspaper and broadcasting fields. We’ve already got a few celebrity auctioneers lined up, and we’ve set up significant press coverage.

How you can help is obvious.  Adriane and I would like you to contribute an item or two to this benefit. Original art, signed scripts, memorabilia, whatever you have that you can spare. Of course, monetary contributions would also be gratefully accepted.

Unsold items will be auctioned off online following the event. If we should be so lucky as to have money left over, we will donate this revenue to The Hero Initiative.

We will be keeping a log of all the expenditures so that any contributor can see how their efforts have been spent. If you can’t help right now, you can’t help and that’s fine. These are very difficult times and we don’t want to guilt-trip anybody. If you would like to discuss this, you can contact Adriane or me at 203-853-9011.

It’s just this simple: It’s hard to earn a living as a comic book writer if you can’t see the pages to dialog. Your help will be deeply, deeply appreciated. Our most sincere thanks for your consideration.

Best,

Mike Gold

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