Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Gary Gygax 7/27/1938 - 3/4/2008


Image by Alan De Smet
Ernest Gary Gygax died this morning. Basements across the country today erupted with the tears of thousands of nerds. Like most people that grew up in Southern Wisconsin, I was within the six degrees of seperation from this man who was the central legendary figure of pen and paper gaming but I never had the opportunity to meet him myself. Now it looks like I will never get that opportunity.

Though the age of supremecy of Dungeons and Dragons in role playing games has passed and there was much controvercy within the fan community over the aquisition of TSR by WOTC this man created something that has resonated with the popular culture not just with a nerdy subculture of social outcasts, but with the culture on the whole. Mr. Gygax's enthusiasm for gaming was a testiment to the idiom, "do what you love and the money will follow."

Gary Gygax, you will be missed by thousands of people you never knew.

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