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I’ve been planning on writing this for over four years now. Memory Lane is basically me picking over my childhood for, hopefully meaty, scraps of memory but my memory was rudely jogged yesterday. E. Gary Gygax passed away. Back in the early 80’s I got hooked into the D&D thing.<\/p>\n
When you were a D&D geek back then it basically meant that you played the game itself one night out of every 7 – if you were lucky – and you spent the other 6 days reading, thinking, planning, obsessing, and loving the wide open canvas you could create with some dice and imagination. At age 12-15 I worshiped Gary Gygax in much the same way people revere authors, sports stars, & celebrities. I read his words, mistakenly I believed he’d created D&D singlehandedly and – okay, one influence had to be the fact that the coolest D&D store – the one where the GASP grown-up D&D fans hung out – had a framed and signed picture of the man over the cash register.<\/p>\n
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My interest didn’t last long – puberty saw to that – but now that I think about it, Gygax, at one time was a hero of mine and could be a reason why I chose to make a career in the interactive entertainment industry. D&D was an internship.<\/p>\n
Later in life I had the honor of meeting him at the last Gen Con to take place in Milwaukee (Lake Geneva, Gygax’s hometown, is where Gen Con gets its name btw – well, that and the actual Geneva Convention). I met his one time estranged co-creator, Dave Arnesen, as well. I could tell from a few minutes of conversation with both men that Arnesen contributed the rules, the numbers, the stats and Gygax contributed the imagination and vision. I could be very wrong about that, but that’s how it felt.<\/p>\n
D&D, I believe, help make me who I am. I’m GamerDad, I play video games for a living, I strongly believe in the value of play. The urge and yearning to DO, rather than just watch. D&D led me to acting, and it’s why I prefer to write children’s fiction. Being a DM is a wonderful way to develop skills like narrative, story arc, filling in the details after the fact, and most importantly: character and motivation. D&D changed my world.<\/p>\n
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Thinking back, I can remember looking at the TSR ad on the back of some modules and supplements that showed where the magic came from. Gary Gygax is from Lake Geneva Wisconsin and he built his game, empire, company, and more there. As a teen, I wanted to visit Lake Geneva Wisconsin in the worst way. There, There Thar Be Dragons! I figured.<\/p>\n
Now, Lake Geneva Wisconsin is where my mother-in-law lives.<\/p>\n
There is no cause of death listed for Mr. Gygax but to be honest, it doesn’t matter what monster is responsible. I’ll just choose to believe that this time, this one time, E. Gary Gygax finally failed a saving throw.<\/p>\n
Not even he could bend the rules on that one. Some rolls are permanent. . . .<\/p>\n
The Onion AV Club has a nice obituary which states that Gygax was still hosting weekly D&D sessions as late as last January! Also, they posted this fantastic video. Perfect for anyone in your life who doesn’t understand D&D. Ladies and gentlemen, the late and definitely missed Freaks & Geeks!<\/em><\/p>\n