For anyone who missed seeing any kind of news media yesterday, Gary Gygax, the co-creator of the Dungeons & Dragons RPG system, died. While I never played D&D, I of course know many people who did/do, and I found it somewhat startling to realize that I am very few degrees removed from actually knowing Gygax.
My uncle in Chicago, you see, played in some of those original D&D games in Wisconsin. The story is that he decided to propose to my aunt because “she was the only woman he’d ever met who would go into a dungeon with him!” From what I recall, my aunt also says they met because a colleague realized they both had the same Tolkien calendar displayed above their desks and introduced them. It was meant to be.
I was just talking to my mother, who is decidedly un-geeky in matters related to gaming of this sort, and asked if she realized how closely Gygax’s death touched our family. To my surprise, she said, “Oh, yes. The first time we went to see Janice after she moved to Evanston and had just started dating Bruce, we heard all about Dungeons & Dragons. I think she must have described it to us room by room, more than I ever wanted to know.”
Gygax’s legacy has been truly far-reaching. May he be pleased that he brought my aunt and uncle together.
Indeed, that was truly a good thing!