Tom Fagan was a Rutland, Vermont newspaper reporter who made comic book history for founding his town's Hallowe'en parade (in 1959), wearing a Batman costume every Hallowe'en, and featuring superheroes in his parade. In the early seventies, Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams used the parade as the background for their classic Batman story, "Night of the Reaper" (Fagan appeared in the story, shook hands with Batman, and complimented him on his costume); and Roy Thomas and John Buscema used the parade as the setting for an Avengers story (in which Fagan appeared costumed as Marvel's then-parody of Batman, Nighthawk).
I never met Fagan; the closest I came was being in the same audience with him at a panel about the early days of comics fandom.
Alas, Fagan passed away just long enough before his beloved holiday to prevent him from realizing one of his wishes for his funeral: riding in the parade in a casket.
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