Gary Gygax, co-developer of Dungeons & Dragons, has died at the age of 69. I spent a lot of time playing D&D as a kid/teenager (along with Car Wars and Villains & Vigilantes); I bet a lot of my readers did, too. I haven’t played in 20 years, but the news of his death just deflated me.
Somehow, when we were all coming up with responses for my Exit, Ghost post, we managed to omit GG from the pantheon. (I’m looking at you, Scharf.)
how well I remember the dark smokey backroom in that Pompton Lakes shop, where my young son would go on a Saturday afternoon to play D&D with other likeminded young (and some not-so-young) players …..
as a mother, I’m not sure I would allow my son to do that today – different times I suppose – but even then I recall being less than thrilled …
Like another poster and Fred Rogers, my reaction to EGG’s passing caught me totally by surprise. I was already at loose ends yesterday afternoon due to an unsettling work reassignment, and I lost most of the afternoon surfing the many online reactions and tributes, and moved to tears is the only way to describe it (best tribute I’ve seen so far is here.
If I’d had any Mountain Dew in the house, I would have poured some on the ground for EGG last night (the rest would have gone down the drain.
I guess that tribute’s better than the Achewood one.