If you’ve read any of my books, you may recall a name which appears prominently and
consistently in the Acknowledgements sections, namely that of Mr. Gary S. Mangiacopra.
Gary is one of the unsung heroes in the field of unexplained phenomena – a world-class
researcher of remarkable humility and astonishing generosity who embodied all the best qualities
of the Fortean community.
I considered him a friend and a mentor and, as I’ve stated repeatedly in my books, I
would be nowhere today without his help.
I was first introduced to Gary back in 2017, when I was doing research for my first book
Legends of the Nahanni Valley.
I came across one of his old articles, written on a topic I was interested in, and was impressed
by the depth of information it contained.
At the end of the article was Gary’s home address in the town of Milford, Connecticut.
On a whim, I decided to send a letter to that address to see if anyone got back to me.
Shortly thereafter, to my pleasant surprise, I received a letter from Gary, along with
some photocopies of old magazine articles related to the subject about which I had inquired.
Gary’s letter was old-school, formally formatted, single-sided, and typewritten on thick yellow
paper, with his signature in blue ink at the end.
The message it contained was both friendly and informative, answering the questions I
had posed in patient detail and welcoming me into the field of unexplained phenomena,
in which I have been happily ensconced ever since.
For six years following our first exchange of letters, Gary and I kept regular correspondence.
Every few months, Gary would send me a massive package packed with old magazine and newspaper
articles from his extensive personal archive.
These were typically photocopies of typewritten transcripts, printed on a motley assortment
of paper of varying colour and thickness.
The articles that Gary sent me were the sparks that inspired most of the stories in my books
Mysteries of Canada: Volumes I and II, which launched me deep into the endlessly divaricating
labyrinth that is Canadian Forteana.
It was always a thrill to find one of his manila envelopes in the mail, knowing the
wealth of lost knowledge such packages invariably contained.
I have still only gone through a fraction of the material that Gary has sent me over
the years, and am certain that, God willing, the remainder will furnish fodder for articles
and videos for years to come.
In each of his packages, Gary included a typewritten letter filled with encouragement and all sorts
of useful advice.
With a Master’s degree in Marine Biology, he was a cryptozoologist in the truest sense
of the term – a member of the old guard who was happy to share his hard-won knowledge
and wisdom with rookies like me.
He was extremely old-fashioned, and whether out of Luddism or paranoia, did not use the
internet, communicating with me exclusively by snail mail.
In December 2022, one my letters to Gary was returned to me by Canada Post.
Alarmed, I spent the next few weeks doing some detective work, ultimately getting in
contact with a police officer who broke the tragic news that Gary had passed away, probably
from a heart attack, on November 14th, 2022.
He was 71 years old.
Gary was, without any exaggeration, one of the kindest and most generous souls I’ve
ever had the pleasure of knowing, and I’m afraid that this meagre tribute does justice
neither to his character nor to his quiet but colossal contributions to this field of
study we call Forteana.
Since I can only shed light on the narrow aspect of his life which intersected with
my own, I decided to reach out to others in the field who also enjoyed a personal relationship
with Gary.
This is what they had to say about this humble giant in the world of the weird and the wonderful.
Well, it’s a sad duty today to talk about Gary.
Just learned, in this New Year, that Gary had passed away last November.
Sad, sad news.
He was a great researcher.
Young guy at 71.
I know he’d had a heart attack in 2011.
But still, you know, we continue on.
Gary would always send the most remarkable packages.
Envelopes – either manila envelopes, regular envelopes- that were chock full of articles,
his contributions, his donations in terms of information and articles.
He never joined the digital age, however.
And Gary was there, though, all the time, with as much as he could give you.
Finally, recently, he did write this book on the Champ Conference that happened in 1981.
I was there.
Gary was there.
A lot of folks that we know in the field were there.
And Gary finally transcribed it with Dwight Smith and got it out there.
Too bad.
Gary wanted to do a lot of other things.
He had in his mind six other books.
Death just came too soon.
So, goodbye Gary.
I know you’re up there someplace writing away and stuffing those envelopes.
Take care.
I first met Gary via introduction through Hammerson, and I quickly learned what a legend
Gary is in the Fortean community.
And what stands out to me is, even above his research and his work throughout the decades,
is his generosity.
Gary notoriously did not like to use email for communications, so he would print out
just volumes and volumes of papers and files.
As soon as he knew a topic you were interested in, he was so giving, and I think any of us
who are into this specialized niche- this field of interest in Fortean topics- could
look to him as an example of sharing and helping others out, because we are a community.
My name is Ted Doades.
I would like to say a few words about my friend Gary Mangiacopra, who passed away recently.
Gary lived in the town of Milford, Connecticut, in a 1, 116-foot square house.
It was an old-style Cape Cod home that was built sometime around 1948.
Gary once told me he had people drive by, stop, get out of their car, and take pictures
of his house.
That is how cute Gary’s home was.
Although I never met Gary in person, mainly because we live so far apart, we were able
to have many conversations over the phone.
First time I ever had any contact with Gary was when I received a letter from him.
I believe that was back on January of 2015.
The letter read: “I’ve seen your ad in a Lost Treasure
magazine.
It said you sell back issue magazines such as Treasure, Westerns, The Desert, Saga, Argosy,
and many others.”
Then the letter went on to say, “As a young boy, I became interested in the fascinating
field of cryptozoology after reading magazine articles on the Yeti and Bigfoot.
My interest in the field grew throughout my adolescence.”
The letter then said, “Would you go through your collection of magazines and pick out
all the stories related to Bigfoot, UFOs, strange happenings, and the like?”
After reading Gary’s letter, I said to myself, “I’ve got to call this guy.
I have thousands upon thousands of magazines.
It would take me years to search through all my magazines to find the stories he wants.
Well, he had given me his phone number, so I called him.
Gary answered in a soft-spoken voice.
I told him his request was nearly impossible, but after listening to him telling me some
of the projects he was involved in, and the books he was working on, I agreed to help
him find some of the magazines and articles he wanted, but only over a period of time.
Gary agreed.
Over the years to follow, Gary and I become very good friends.
Every now and then, as you go through life, you meet someone, whether it is on the phone
or in person, you can tell right away if you want to become associated with that person
or not.
Gary was one of those guys you could not help but like.
I will miss my friend.
Rest in peace, Gary.
Thank you for letting me share my story with you about my friend, Gary Mangiacopra.