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 furry 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.
The Skiltaire is described as an alien weasel-like creature.
A Twitter user come forward with the suggestion of making Merlino’s birthday of May 12th a “Furry Fandom Community Day” to remember his legacy.
Original post on Flayrah – Feb 25, 2024
Translation and editing: Pawsry Hamktxchuzhni
现代兽圈文化先驱马克-梅里诺去世，享年 71 岁
2024 年 2 月 20 日，兽圈的创始人之一因肝癌去世。
马克-梅里诺（Mark Merlino）与已故的弗雷德-帕滕（Fred Patten）是 1977 年 5 月美国第一个动漫俱乐部的六位创始人中的两位。
这种兴趣和狂热逐渐演变成了对拟人化角色的关注，并逐渐发展成一个被称为”毛兽“（furry，中国大陆另称福瑞、台湾另称毛毛）的串联狂热。
最终，他与伙伴罗德-奥莱利（Rod O’Riley）共同创办了大洛杉矶地区第一个专为兽圈举办的大会——ConFurence。
在马克于 1998 年底离开兽展董事会之前，参加 Confurence 的人数每年都在增长。2003 年，这个创始活动关闭了，但其他地区、国外的兽展也随之发展壮大，取而代之。
其直接继承活动 Califur 于 2004 年开始举办，直至 2017 年关闭。
梅里诺的遗产有据可查，在 Ash Coyote 的《Fandom》和 Joe Strike 的《Furry Nation》中都有记载。
兽迷们一直在悼念和追思他的逝世，并发表文章介绍他的遗产，以及以他原创的外星类似鼬属的物种 “Skiltaire” 为主题的粉丝艺术作品。
一位推特用户建议将梅里诺先生 5 月 12 日的生日定为“兽圈日”，以纪念他的遗产。
原创文章 – Flayrah，2024 年 2 月 25 日
翻译编辑：爪利行乐主翅尼
Global Furry Television 