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It was the Summer of 1996 and we were visiting Florida for my cousin's wedding. As with the normal stops, we hit Universal Studios Florida and I was instantly reminded of something. My love for the Ghostbusters films. As a kid growing up, Ghostbusters was my life- running around the house with my Kenner Proton Pack and Ghost Trap, closing off areas of the house for "routine spook checks" I was the only Ghostbuster in the state of Colorado. Magically I was taken back to those days watching the actors perform on stage, doing what I always wanted to do" bust ghosts. I took dozens of photos, made sure that I wouldn't forget my trip out there. When I returned home, I began searching the internet for more on Ghostbusters, heck- maybe there'd been a new movie in production without me even knowing. It was then that I stumbled upon Bill Emkow's website (a far cry from what it looks like today) and saw what love people had for the same film I did. It was great, a PBEM game and trivia, it was the coolest thing that I had ever seen and I wanted to be a part. Unfortunately, my computer skills in 96 were lacking and the most I could provide was an FTP server which I affectionately nicknamed Ghostbusters Headquarters. Nobody visited, I didn't know that you had to make the whole thing public- it was Bill who inspired and helped me create the first version of Ghostbusters HQ (which I will never again post, it's far too embarassing). Bill was generous to lend me an image or two with the advice to make my own, distict and original page (which we would later incorporate into the now deceased Ghostbusters International link program with Norm Gagnon and Matt Sturm). Bill continued encouraging me, and I soon made connections with big wigs and scored some interviews with production crew on the all-new Ghostbusters cartoon series that the Ghostheads (a term that Norm and Bill coined). Bill and Norm were like the lone rangers keeping the spirit of Ghostbusters alive. Showing everyone that Ghostbusters was still very much alive in pop-culture and assuring Ghostheads that the future looked bright. He was the Gozer to our Zuul. As many of you know, he's decided to retire his legendary website, allowing others to take over the pieces that require maintanance and keeping his page static (unfortunately, it was static until January 29th of 99 which would ultimately be the last update of the page). And though Bill probably doesn't even remember me, (though he mentioned one of the projects that we worked on together in his final address, but never mentioned me...) he's created a monster, rekindled the passion for a film that I love so much and for that I owe him the world. Without him, there would be no Ghostbusters HQ and you would not be reading this. So here's to you Bill- don't be a stranger... you my friend, were THE heart of the Ghostbusters... Troy Benjamin - Webmaster Ghostbusters HQ
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