WE SAY GOODBYE TO A LEGEND…
Thomas F. Monteleone (born April 14, 1946) passed way kicking and screaming, while awake, on January 30th, 2023. The cause of death has been attributed to acute HUD (Head Up Ass Disease), a common malady suffered by elderly white men living within their own little microcosm of reality. He is survived by his wife Elizabeth, his daughter Olivia, and his son.
****EDITOR’S NOTE: His list of accomplishments includes being expelled from the Horror Writer’s Association, and having his privileges as a Lifetime Achievement Award recipient revoked after a unanimous vote by the trustees of the HWA. He has also been permanently banned from attending NECON (the Northeast Horror Writer’s Conference).
Monteleone’s former publishing house, BORDERLANDS PRESS, is currently under scrutinization by the horror community for its lack of diversity in promoting marginalized voices (because “no one has ever heard of them.”). With this being said, the Borderlands Bootcamp writer’s retreat, formerly run by Tom and his daughter with a slew of old white men as instructors, has been taken over by long-time diversity advocate, Brian Keene. This new and improved class features a selection of diverse creators as instructors, to include Maurice Broadice, Mary San Giovanni, and of course Keene.
**** EDITOR’S NOTE: On Tuesday, 1/31/23, the board of directors at the Scares That Care charity, which had taken over the Borderlands Bootcamp in 2022, unanimously voted to rebrand the writing workshop to “The Scares That Care Writing Workshop.”
Tom had a long career in science fiction and horror, cultivating new talent while defending misogynists. Soon after participating in an alien abduction practical joke, Monteleone began writing in 1974 with a wonderful book, MORE SCIENCE FICTION TALES. This collection went on to inspire many blossoming creators in the mid to late 1970s; including the writer of this obituary, who was, at the time, unaware of Monteleone’s closed minded political and social beliefs.
Donations can be made to the following LGBTQ charities on behalf of Tom and his family:
https://www.thehrcfoundation.org/
https://www.aliforneycenter.org/
A PERSONAL NOTE TO TOM (not that your miserable fucking ass will ever see this): Thanks for betraying everyone who believed in you, Mr. Monteleone. I guess it’s ironic, then, that we all learned one last lesson from a bitter, old man. The pisser is I never thought it would be “HOW TO COMMIT CAREER SUICIDE.”
Thomas R Clark 
Outstanding!
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