Gary Gygax, the co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons (and TSR), passed away today. I’ve never met the man but have always named his creation as a significant influence on my direction.

In my youngster years, D&D + small town boredom lured me towards fiction reading / drawing. By early high school, a few of my illustrations had been picked up and published in TSR modules. Some of that feedback encouraged me to decline a health science scholarship and instead pursue a split major in art / biology. I finished my post grad studies as an Architect and then jumped track even further to give chase to a web career.

If not for the creative encouragement, I’d have chosen science. I’d be prescribing amoxicillin right now, and I can’t imagine I’d be enjoying it.

So, sorry for the wandering topic, but I wanted to pay a small amount of respect to a life well played. Godspeed, sir. Thanks for the stories. (And for the name of this blog.)