Yesterday I learned about Jeff Healey… today its Gary Gygax.
In 1983, I moved from Jacksonville, Florida to Plumsteadville, Pennsylvania. Technically, I think we lived in Pipersville, but we had to drive to Plumsteadville to get our mail from the post office. Or it was the other way around. That’s no important. What is important is that our new house was just down the street from another family that had two sons, Charlie and Keeley. Charlie was my age, and along with a few other neighborhood kids, we were friends. Keeley was older, several years, and he had a fascinating hobby: painting lead miniatures.
The work he did was very detailed. He would spend hours working with brushes that had very few bristles, sometimes just a single bristle, getting the crevasses between armor plates and the coloring of the eyes. I still have a few that he sold me. But the miniatures weren’t just for painting and for show, they were for role playing games.
Keeley introduced us all to Dungeons & Dragons. He started us on the Red Box, and later segued us into Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, where I became captivated by the Fiend Folio. His love of Mack Bolan books lead us into Top Secret, and his love of the Alien and Aliens movies lead us into Star Frontiers.
Needless to say, Gary Gygax, his creations and his legacy, have had a major impact on my life. Twenty-five years of gaming joy and heartache. My hat off to you, Gary. I hope the afterlife holds up to the fantasy worlds you created.
I remember those days fondly too. Some may say that was the day we became incorrigible geeks. I’d have to agree – but I’d agree with a smile on my face.