A Few Words on Gary Gygax

Gary Gygax, co-creator (with Dave Arneson) of Dungeons & Dragons, passed away two years ago today.  (The image to the left is my favorite of the various tributes to him.)  I was never particularly a fan of Gary's: I got into D&D via the various Basic editions of the game, so Holmes, Moldvay, and Metzner were "my" TSR gurus.  Gary was always the obstreperous guy writing cranky editorials in the few issues of Dragon Magazine that I was able to locate and purchase during the 1980s.  In fact, the AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide, Gary's magnum opus, is the one AD&D book I've never owned.  I have vague memories of reading one of the Gord the Rogue books (going by the cover images, either Saga of Old City or Artifact of Evil)--but if I did, that novel was the only thing Gary wrote that I ever did read in its entirety.

I nevertheless want to pause and remember Gary today.  He wasn't my favorite RPG designer/writer, but I wouldn't have had all of the pleasure this hobby has given me over the last thirty years if he and Dave hadn't gone ahead with their plans to publish D&D.  My world has been richer because of Gary's presence in it, and I'm grateful to him for that.