the Executive Director of Cartoon Crossroads Columbus, an annual free four-day celebration of cartooning and graphic novels in Columbus, Ohio. Personal life Spurgeon described himself as "a big, fat guy", standing at six feet three inches tall and weighing at times over 400 pounds. In 2011, he underwent emergency surgery that placed The Comics Reporter website on hiatus. He wrote an essay about the experience. A year later, he posted a second essay detailing his change in perspective, lifestyle modifications, and significant weight loss following his surgery. In it, he explains, "I wasn't sick because I was overweight. The weight was a factor in my recovery...My desire to lose weight greatly intensified because of the new health realities I faced." Spurgeon died on November 13, 2019, at age 50 in Columbus, Ohio. Awards Spurgeon and The Comics Reporter won the Eisner Award for Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism in 2010, 2012, and 2013. The site was also awarded the UTNE Independent Press Award for arts and literature coverage in 2002. Spurgeon sat on the 2019 Ringo Awards Professional Jury. Bibliography (with Jordan Raphael) Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book (Chicago Review Press, 2003) The Romita Legacy (Dynamite Entertainment, 2011) (with Jacob Covey) Comics As Art: We Told You So (Fantagraphics Books, 2016) References External links The Comics Reporter Chasing Tom Spurgeon", interview (June 13, 2005) Tom Spurgeon | On the Serious Side (February 26, 2010) 1968 births 2019 deaths People from Muncie, Indiana Writers from Indiana 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers American magazine editors Place of death missing American comics writers Anime and manga critics Comics critics Eisner Award winners for Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism Washington and Lee Generals athletes American biographers