For the younger folks or the uninformed who may be reading this, Mark Merlino was an extremely important part of why anime was able to become as popular as it was in the US today. He helped form the C/FO, one of the first anime clubs in America, alongside Fred Patten back in the day. [He hosted some of the earliest screenings of anime at conventions as well]](https://dogpatch.press/2020/04/28/history-cartoon-fantasy-organization/).

He seems to be in stable condition currently according to this post but it’s still so scary to see a man so important to our fandom have such a scary medical issue.

There is currently an address listed where get well cards can be sent. It seems the least we could do in the anime fandom is to make sure this man’s mailbox is overflowing with kind words.

I’ll be sending a card, how about you?