I normally don’t pitch my friends’ books here, because due to that friendship you probably wouldn’t trust me anyway, but since the last time Sam Maronie and I were together in the same place, this happened—

—I figured I owed it to him to bring to your attention that, many decades later, long after he recovered from the wounds I inflicted, this happened.

That’s right—Maronie has published Tripping Through Pop Culture, a look back at a lifetime of his love for movies, TV, and comics, as well as the people who create them.

Maronie, who’s also the proprietor of Sam Maronie’s Entertainment Funhouse, was there in the ’70s when I first got into comics fandom, as the photo up top proves, and his memories sparked memories of my own, so much so that I was willing to blurb his book, writing—

Sam Maronie’s Tripping Through Pop Culture is more than just a book — it’s a time machine. Flipping through its pages, I’m once more a 15-year-old kid attending my first convention, dazzled as I come face to face with my idols. If you were also a con-goer back then, you already know what I mean, and should be prepared for goose bumps. But even if your first con was only yesterday, or if you’ve never been to a con, don’t worry, because you’re still in for a treat. You’re about to learn what it was like when giants walked the earth.

Your reaction might not be quite as extreme, since you probably didn’t live a life in parallel with his the way I did. But still, if you’re the kind of person who bothers to come to this site, you’ll probably find something of interest there, whether it’s his early tour of the Marvel offices, or the time he introduced Joe Sinnott to Jack Kirby for the first time, or how he made Clayton Moore—the original Lone Ranger—cry.

If all that makes you want to trip with the guy, too, you can order a signed copy straight from Maronie here.