In the final hours of August 6, furry art community Fur Affinity released a brief news post announcing that its owner, Dragoneer, had passed away, after a nasty respiratory disease that he had posted about publicly on social media. During this time the purple Digimon gave a hopeful prognosis on his last Fur Affinity journal, believing he’d recover in one to two months, but also showing how serious the situation was on Bluesky with anxiety about getting appointments as the condition worsened. A July 15 post indicated he had suffered pneumonia-like symptoms since mid-June, but didn’t seek help prior; likely fearing the cost, being uninsured.

Sean “Dragoneer” Piche was a foundational individual in a new generation of furry community leaders, fostering a struggling art site called Fur Affinity to a dominant position in the fandom - as well as promoting and later taking over responsibility for a companion convention, FA: United, before COVID-19 caused the difficult decision to permanently cancel the con.

Taral Wayne (born Wayne MacDonald), a Canadian artist in both science fiction and furry fandoms, passed away last week at age 72. (October 12, 1951 - July 31, 2024.)

I had the opportunity to hang out with Taral many times from about 1994-2001 until I moved away, after which I sadly let myself become more distant. If you were a friend or colleague of Taral's, even if you're not in furry fandom, please feel free to post a comment or personal memory here!

Taral Wayne was a resident of Toronto and discovered science fiction fandom in the early 1970s. Within the next ten years he was an active participant, lending his artistic talents to zine culture. He was also a member of the proto-furry APA, Vootie.

Furry author and editor Kirisis Alpinus passed away in a Swedish hospital on March 5th, following a visit to NordicFuzzCon.

Also known on Twitter as DaRhedDol, and as member of the Furry Writers' Guild KC Alpinus, she leaves behind a legacy of work and her mate and fellow furry author and guild member Ocean Tigrox.

As well as her writing and editing, Kirisis shared her activism and admiration for her fellow women of color, and supported furries of color by helping to organize gatherings and sharing experiences and history using her degree in political science.

Furries have been sharing fan art that features her dhole and dire wolf hybrid in her memory.

Bad Dog Books is celebrating her life by offering CLAW Volume 1 for free through March - a lesbian anthology released in 2018, inspired by the FANG series focused on male/male partnerships - as well as ROAR Volume 9 and Dogs of War II Aftermath in which she had stories. Her work also featured in Inhuman Acts and Bleak Horizons, and she won the 2020 Cóyotl Award for Best Anthology with A Selection of Anthropomorphic Regalements, Vol 1.

One of furry fandom’s original founding members passed away from liver cancer on February 20, 2024. Mark Merlino, alongside the late Fred Patten, were two of the six founders of the first anime club in the United States in May 1977. This interest and fandom evolved into a focus on the anthropomorphic characters which became large enough to grow outside into a tandem fandom known as furry.

This would culminate in the founding of the first convention exclusively for furry fans in Greater Los Angeles, ConFurence, which he co-directed with his mate Rod O’Riley. It saw yearly growth in attendance until Mark left the board at the end of 1998. Other conventions would grow to replace the founding convention that closed its doors in 2003. Its direct successor Califur started in 2004 and ran until its closure in 2017.

Merlino’s legacy has been well documented, featuring in Ash Coyote’s The Fandom and Joe Strike’s Furry Nation.

The fandom has been mourning and memorializing his passing with articles of his legacy, and fan art featuring his original species, the Skiltaire. Ren Tradewind has come forward with the suggestion of making his birthday of May 12th a sort of Fandom Foundation holiday.

Google has recently announced its intention to deactivate accounts if the user is inactive after two years of time. This comes only a week after Twitter had announced that they too will be looking to liquidate accounts that lack activity. Soon after this announcement the accounts of deceased on Twitter were found to be suspended for “Terms of Use Violations”, in a similar vein to someone who used the site to spam or harass others.

Dying, as it turns out, is against the rules.

Personal thing, but still nicely Furry we think… Today your ever-loving ed-otter and his ever-loving pine marten life-mate went to a viewing party in Los Angeles for the P-22 Celebration of a Life event. Don’t know about P-22? He was a wild cougar from the Santa Monica mountains in Southern California, who became quite famous for somehow crossing two major freeways without getting killed, who ended up living in LA’s well-known Griffith Park for more than a decade. Below is a very, very famous picture of the cat himself “posing” in front of the Hollywood sign. He became a much-loved local celebrity, until a tragic encounter with a car injured him to the point that authorities found it best to euthanize him last year. How celebrated was he? We couldn’t get in to the main event saluting his life, as it sold out The Greek Theater — in just two hours. More signs of his fame: There is a movement afoot to have his likeness put on a U.S. Stamp.

image c. 2023 National Geographic

Ian George Stuart Curtis passed away some time in May of 2021. He was one of the founding fathers of the furry fandom in the UK.

Born in December 1946 in Hull, he grew up on Disney cartoons and funny animal comics like Bonzo the Dog and Rupert Bear. By the time he was in his teens, he also developed interests in wargaming, comics, science fiction and fantasy games as well.

While working as a writer for the military press, he travelled to the USA regularly and used his leisure time to frequent the comic book and science fiction conventions there. This was how he met early furry fans like Pauli Kidd and discovered furry fandom. By the 1990s, he was in contact with fans in the US, Australia, and the UK.

As the holidays arrive, some are disappointed in the fact that our gatherings are going to be a bit smaller this year due to the continuing pandemic. For those reluctantly separated from loved ones voluntarily, however, they may find that the greatest present is that they may have the fortune of getting together with those loved ones in future holidays. Because in a year such as this, that is a gift not afforded to everyone.

News emerged on December 17th of a furry mother, Velocity Sloth, who learned that her husband had contracted the deadly virus, and didn’t make it. This holiday tragedy has left a hole for their family that could never be filled, as a mother sloth is left on her own to care for her young. Her husband was the sole provider at the time of his passing.

Known for her volunteer work at some of our largest conventions, furs took up the call in order to try and help alleviate some of the despair wrought by the sudden loss. Within a few days, charitable furs exceeded the $15,000 goal set to help her out.

The 2000s were not an easy time for those who were furry or gay. The mainstream media was still hyper-focused on the sexual aspects of fandom expression in a freak-show style of coverage, instead of the overall complexity of the community. The ability to marry individuals of the same sex was still not federally recognized in the United States and wouldn’t be until the early 2010s. It was in that era that one furry artist named Rukus took their own life at the end of 2008.

Now, just over a decade later, someone who knew this artist on a personal level has finished a documentary covering the life of their lost friend and their interlude with fandom. That director, Brett Hanover, contacted me and gave me the opportunity to view a screening of the film.

The show releases on Vimeo and their own website today and can be viewed there. You can choose to watch before I go over the details and review below. Though the review may help understand some of the nuances of the film.

Perhaps the most famous “fur-suiter” on the planet has left us. Peter Mayhew, best known as the human inside the massive “walking carpet” Chewbacca in the Star Wars series of films, passed away on April 30th at the age of 74. Interestingly, before Mr. Mayhew came to the attention of director George Lucas he appeared as another anthropomorphic character: The minotaur in 1976’s Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger. Peter Mayhew played Chewbacca the 200-year-old wookie from the first Star Wars film in 1977 (Episode 4, aka A New Hope) until 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens, when he passed on the role to former basketball player Joonas Suatamo. But Peter Mayhew will always be known as the warbling roar that announced Star Wars to the world.

image c. 2019 The Verge

To many furs in the world, young and old, the fandom and the content it produces can be a form of escape. A way to engage in a fantasy world with conjured characters. It works as a means to forget the menial and divisive day to day events. It keeps them sane in a world that can lose it in the spur of a moment.

Drugs in which are utilized recreationally also provide such escapes for some. Through stimulation or suppression of the senses, the user can achieve a state of mind that can help them take an edge off the sharp protrusions in life.

However, just because both tools seem to be a means to the same end, it does not mean that these worlds do not overlap. In many circles in the fandom the usage of these substances can be seen as revered, one such group that is a famous example call themselves the “Baked Furs” are well known for their pro-marijuana stances and usage.

Unfortunately, as drug culture has continued to grow along with the growth of the fandom itself, the dark side of these habits is becoming far more prevalent. A recent death of one furry has pushed the conversation to one that can no longer be ignored by the community. Today we go these examples of substance abuse in the fandom, and the impacts that it has had.

R.C. Fox (Carl Kirkwood), a fursuiter who was charged for criminal possession of child pornography back in October 2017, committed suicide last week. The news started to spread after posts on Twitter linked him with a news story from the Pennsylvania-based Times Online.

The article described that a body had been found in a vehicle parked on the side of the road in an unpopulated area, that hazardous chemicals had been released within the confines of the car, and that a hazmat team had been dispatched.

This happened before he could be convicted of the charges against him. Carl had plead guilty as part of a plea bargain. However, a source who knew him indicated that he'd regretted this decision:

He already plead guilty [...]. And then, his lawyer found evidence that none of the child-porn rated content was his (network hacking). But in order to appeal, he needed $25,000 and he didn’t have it. He was going to prison until he came up with the money to prove innocence and he just couldn’t bear to do it.

Sad news has come to the web journal of the furry convention Fur 'the More. Their most recent announcement tells of the passing of Cobalt the Fox (David Gonce) last Friday (October 6), due to a heart attack. The fox's final tweet indicated he had felt particularly ill.

This dedicated staffer worked in the security group, known as the Rangers, for the Baltimore area furry convention. He also had the opportunity to MC for their furry dance competition.

The blessings of the staff, and their sorrow over the loss speaks volumes for Colbalt's contributions to the fandom he loved.

I have met and talked to so many people and in all my life i have not met anyone who isn't special and unique.

— I'm Cobalt! (@Cobalt_The_Fox) July 13, 2017

On Janurary 13, Equino Faukland, a friend of Spike Niko, posted about the passing of the founder of Rainbow Tiger to the club's group:

Hello my friends from Rainbow Tiger. I wish I was coming to you with something other than bad news, but with a heavy heart I must inform you that yesterday Spike Nico, the Boss Pony of the Rainbow Tiger passed away. Some of you might know that Spike was sick back in June with some lung issues and was in pretty bad shape. However, always the fighter Spike pulled through and was in full recovery. However his illness resurfaced this winter with a vengeance. He died in his bed yesterday from complications of his illness.

There have been many articles speaking to the harshness and cruelty of the year 2016. This time in history has been seen in such a negative light that people have gone so far as to make horror trailer parodies of the year itself. Barring the turbulent political results in countries such as the United States and United Kingdom, many celebrities who brought forth stories of endearment and inspired a generation passed on this year.

But just like you this year the furry fandom has been filled with reminders of our own mortality and that while some may try and use the fandom as an escape from these very realities, death and political strife caused by our interactions have made themselves apparent this year more than any in recent memory.