In Memoriam: Terry Allan Murray, 1953-2025

Terry Murray

The Rubenstein Library mourns the loss of Terry Allan Murray, who passed away on August 7, 2025. Terry was born in Durham, where he would reside his entire life alongside his brother, Edwin. Terry was from a family with strong Duke connections. His father, Lee H. Murray, worked at Duke, and his uncle was famed football coach Wallace Wade. Terry and his brother Edwin both attended Duke in the 1970s.

Terry and Edwin began collecting comic books as boys in the 1950s and eventually assembled one of the largest archival comics collections in the United States, including more than 57,000 comic books. In time this grew to include thousands of fanzines, comic strips, original comic art, pulp magazines, card sets, science fiction, as well as role-playing and board games. In 2002, they donated the major portion of their collection to the Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, and they have continued to make additions in the years since.

Terry was a dedicated collector and brought a methodological focus to his work. Armed with reference books, reviews, and annual top 10 lists, he was intentional about his collecting. At the same time, Terry never lost sight of why comics are fun. He was as much a reader interested in authors, characters, and stories, and would often collect related materials across different genres, from comics to games to fiction. In 1999, McFarland published Terry’s Science Fiction Magazine Story Index, 1926 – 1995, the result of many years of work. In the introduction, Terry writes about how this came out of his own interests in science fiction and how he hoped that this work would serve as a tool for readers, collectors, and scholars.

Terry, at one of the mini-cons hosted at his home in Durham

In addition to being an avid reader of comic books and science fiction, Terry was also a dedicated fan. In 1968, he and Edwin began hosting the Durham mini-cons – likely the earliest fan conventions in North Carolina. Their personal papers in the Rubenstein Library include photographs of these events held at their Durham home, as well as issues of their fanzine Vertigo. Sharing collections and bringing fans together were part of Terry’s ongoing interests.

At the Rubenstein Library, the Edwin and Terry Murray collections remain popular with researchers and students. Recent classes that have used parts of the collection have included: “Games and Culture,” “Cold War America,” “US History in Fact and Fiction,” and “Fantasy: The Borders of Genre, Medium, and Culture.” Some of their comics are currently on display as part of the library exhibit American Indians Go Graphic, exploring comic books and graphic novels by and about Native Americans. We are grateful for our long collaboration with Terry and for the legacy that he leaves. His collections will continue to be shared and bring people together.

Terry Murray was a loving son and a devoted brother and friend. He is survived by his brother, Edwin.