On March 4th at his home in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, the man who created D&D and started the whole genre of roleplaying, Gary Gygax, passed away. For me it's a sense of profound loss, as i've been playing for 25 years now, and it's never failed to pick me up when i've been down, entertain me when i've been bored, and allowed me to expand my mind into realms i never thought possible. For these reasons i'd like to thank Gary for bringing D&D to the masses, and even after it's many years of existence it's still going strong, what does that say about it? Many pieces of art were inspored by D&D and the whole fantasy genre.

Over these years it's been bashed by people as a nerd game, hunted for it's supposedly evil and diabolical content, and generally frowned as a thing lesser people do. It's amazing how a game can invoke these ideals in people, and it's usually because they don't really know anything about it and don't really want to try to. I myself have been on the receiving end of battles with not only my family, but with the clergy. In the end i stayed with it, because no one was going to take away this tool that let me open my mind and find happieness.

I've had the pleasure of meeting some great people in my life because of it, many who even to this day i still call friend. And in the end i'm in pretty good company with people who have and still do game like, Vin Diesel, Chris Jericho, Stephen Colbert, Matthew Lillard, Mike Myer, and Robin Williams just to name a few. It has been and will always be a passion for me, playing, running and watching my players experience the adventures i create for them. It's like setting up a book and watching the players write the words. There really is nothing like it.

Gary's final quote as he grew ill was this....

"I would like the world to remember me as the guy who really enjoyed playing games and sharing his knowledge and his fun pastimes with everybody else."

And i promise you, that's how i will remember you, thank you so much my friend, i pray that now you walk the roads of the worlds you created in wonder and happieness. We will never forget you...

God bless and rest easy Gary Gygax...

PS. A webcomic called Order of the Stick pays tribute.
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