Omni Magazine’s Publisher Bob Guccione Has Died [Magazines]

Perhaps most renowned for smut-mag Penthouse, we’d rather remember Guccione for the tech/sci-fi magazine Omni, which hasn’t been seen on newsagents’ shelves since 1995. It was hugely inspirational for its time, when robots, space and gadgets were on everyone’s minds.

It was founded in 1978 when PopSci was already over a century old., but you only should Google ” Omni magazine ” to peer the number of web sites, blogs and articles dedicated to its memory. The first-ever issue, published in October of ’78, featured an interview with the physicist Freeman Dyson. Occurring, though, the title had terrific success when it published stories from the likes of William Gibson, William S. Burroughs and even Stephen King. Indeed, it was the first time Gibson’s Johnny Mnemonic was seen, in 1981, before it was was a movie in 1995.

It wasn’t just sci-fi literature that Omni was taken with. Additionally they helped H.R. Giger get his name out, inclusive of many other artists.

Sadly, Omni didn’t last quite so long as PopSci, or maybe get published provided that Wired’s been running for (Wired is barely a couple of months older now). Guccione, a boy from Italy done good (though I’m unsure his Nonna would’ve been too thrilled with Penthouse) passed on to the great beyond yesterday, at the age of 79, from cancer.

Check out the whole collection of Omni covers at the French site Collectors’ Showcase , and share your memories of Omni below within the comments. [ WSJ and Collectors' Showcase ]

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This post is tagged: johnny mnemonic, physicist freeman dyson, sci fi magazine, share your memories, terrific success, william s burroughs