On Saturday afternoon, Don Perrin and I drove up to Lake Geneva for Gary Gygax’s funeral. The visitation had started at 11 AM, but we left after I got back from Marty’s last indoor soccer game. The funeral wasn’t scheduled until 2 PM, and we got there well before 1:30 PM, so we had time to spare.
Szymon Kudranski, the artist who created the interiors for my Dracula’s Revenge comics, has a new website filled with his ever-improving artwork. If you like unique, dramatic illustrations, it’s well worth checking out.
When I decided to start writing for video games a couple years ago, one of the first things I did was join the IGDA. I’d been a member through Human Head when I worked there, but I ponied up on my own after I left. I’m part of the board of directors of the Madison chapter, and I’ve helped out with the Writers SIG too.
The Writers SIG has a new book about to come out, edited by Wendy Despain: Professional Techniques for Video Game Writing. I’m not listed as one of the writers, although I did answer interview questions for the “How to Break In and Stay In” chapter.
I’ve not had a chance to read any of the book yet, as it won’t hit shelves until April. If the book’s anywhere near as the group’s first effort—Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames—it should be well worth the money for anyone interested in this sort of work.
A bit of digging through Amazon.com shows that I have three new books and one repackaged book due to hit shelves this year.
First up, we have the novelization of the Mutant Chronicles film. This is listed as shipping August 26, but I wouldn’t put too much faith in that until the film’s release date is set. Still, they have the cover there, which looks great.
Next comes The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Drawing Superheroes and Villains Illustrated. No cover up there yet, but it should look great. Yair Herrera of Chile drew all the gorgeous pictures, while I arranged the words around them. This is set for September 2.
After that, for September 9, we have a repackaged book in the Knights of the Silver Dragon Gift Set. This features the first three books in the Knights of the Silver Dragon series—including the first, my Secret of the Spiritkeeper—in a slipcased set. It also comes with Ree Soesbee’s Riddle in Stone and Dale Donovan and Linda Johns’s Sign of the Shapeshifter.
Finally, there’s the book I mentioned a while ago but couldn’t say much about. I still can’t say anything more than what’s up on this sparse listing, but since it’s a hardcover book titled Orcs, you might guess what it’s about. On November 4, you should be able to read the whole thing.
Whew!
Here are the details for Gary’s funeral that I’ve been given:
The visitation starts on Saturday, March 8 at 11 AM, with the funeral to follow at 2 PM, at:
Haase-Derrick-Lockwood Funeral Home
800 Park Drive
Lake Geneva, WI 53147
(282) 248-2031
The funeral will follow at 2:00 PM. Word is there will be some kind of gathering afterward, perhaps at the Legion Hall where part of a couple of the earliest Gen Cons were held. (Gary founded Gen Con—my favorite event of the year—as well.)
I’m told it’s open to the public. Barring any disasters, I plan to be there. Anyone else?
NPR has an excellent interview with my friend Stephen Chenault of Troll Lord Games about Gary Gygax.
I’ve just learned that Gary Gygax, one of the creators of Dungeons & Dragons and founders of its original publisher, TSR, died in his sleep Monday night. The guys at Troll Lord Games seem to have first posted about it, and I’ve verified it through my Alliterates pals.
I worked as a freelancer for Gary’s New Infinities Productions back when I was in college, and I visited their offices and his home and met his wife (Gail, his second) and kids. As a gamer still in school, it was an amazing thrill. After New Infinities went bust, though, we didn’t have much to say to each other for years, mostly over the money that the company ended up owing me and a number of my friends at the end.
When I saw Gary and Gail at one of the last Gen Cons in Milwaukee, though, I buried that hatchet and chatted with them for a while. It was wonderful. I’m lousy at holding grudges, it seems, and thankful for it.
I met Gary at my first gaming convention, the Winter Fantasy back in the winter of ’81-’82. My mother—sweet and supportive woman that she is—brought me and my friends, and while I was busy playing my first game of Boot Hill with (now fellow Alliterate) Steve Winter, she chatted with one of the people running the show, telling him how much room for improvement the convention had. To my teenaged chagrin, this turned out to be Gary.
I saw him later that spring at a small convention right here in my hometown, at Beloit College. The team I was on won the D&D tournament held there, and the prize was a free charter membership in the RPGA, the magazine of which (The Polyhedron) later printed my first published piece of game design. At that show, I met Gary again, and he signed my Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook. You can see the words he wrote in the image at the top of this post.
“Gary Gygax, Beloit, 1982.” You can pretty much chart my entire career from right there.
One of my last jobs with New Infinities was taking a crack at editing his Necropolis adventure and his book on how to run RPGs, Master of the Game. Neither saw print until years later, under different editors, but I remember the challenge of handling both Gary’s unique style and his position in the history of gaming. “He’s rejected the work of two other editors already,” Don Turnbull told me as he handed over Master of the Game. “Give it a shot?”
I hadn’t spoken with Gary in person for a few years when he died. He had a couple strokes back in 2004, and he’d not been in the best of health after that. He only lived about 45 minutes from where I am, but I never managed to get over that way. Now I’ll never have the chance.
I’d already planned to meet with the Midwestern Alliterates tonight for other reasons. We’ll be sure to raise a glass in Gary’s honor. He affected every one of our lives and careers, and it would truly have been a different world without him.
Ironically, today is GM’s Day. Do something good for your favorite Game Master in memory of the first.
Rest in peace, Gary. And thanks.
My pal Rich Dansky ruined my morning by pointing me to the news that Brett Favre is retiring. As a lifelong Packer fan, I recognize this as the official end of the greatest era in the NFL since the Lombardi years.
As I told Rich, though, I think this is the right thing for Favre to do. He came back last year—after flirting with retirement for months—because he didn’t want to leave his beloved sport on a bad note. This year, he broke all sorts of records and brought the Packers back to the playoffs. He’s not likely to top that again, so now’s the time to go.
Favre might have been erratic at times, but when he was on his game he was truly great. The saying around here has long been, “As Favre goes, so go the Packers.” Here’s hoping they can find their way without him.
If you read my Blood Bowl books, you might recognize Rhett Cavre, star blitzer of the Bad Bay Hackers. He’ll still live on, I think, even after his inspiration retires. I’ll miss the original though, every damn game.
My friend Mark Kaufman over at Days of Wonder, explained the Law of Inverse Trouble to me at a convention once. It goes like this:
The older a kid gets, the less frequently trouble happens, but the bigger the trouble is.
An infant, for example, gets into trouble all the time, but these are mostly easy things to fix. A teenager doesn’t get into trouble all that often, but the fallout from those troubles can include things like unwanted pregnancies and smashed cars or worse.
So, here’s a story about a five-year-old who gets into a trouble a little less frequently but a little more spectacularly.
Continue reading »
A note on ICv2.com today tipped me off to a connection in the Mutant Chronicles cast I hadn’t picked up on before, that of Captain Michaels. It turns out he was played by Pras Michel of the Fugees, and that Pras also helped produce the film. He gave an excellent performance in the film, in a small but important role, and I’m enjoying it even more now knowing what else he’s done.
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