Someone on another website, devoted to comic books, said "he was the Stan Lee of role-playing." Even more, I'd say he was the Jerry Siegal & Joe Schuster of role-playing.
He invented us, all of us here now. There hasn't been a day in last 32 years when I haven't thought in some way about role-playing games, and it is all because of him. Doesn't matter if there's others out there who could take credit in some manner for "D&D" or that most of what most of us do has moved beyond the initial concepts, we're all here because he lived and dreamed and created.
In George Martin's "Wild Card" series (a role-playing game looking for a place to happen!), the "Aces" (the characters that have superpowers) meet once/year on the anniversary of the day the mutagenic virus that created superpowers in that world was released accidentally when JetBoy, the first costumed crimefighter in that world (akin to Capt. Midnight, a radio/comicbook/TV hero, for those of you old enough to remember him) was chasing some bad guys. Even though, in a roundabout way, JetBoy had screwed up (since the virus kills more often than grants superpowers)the Aces always drink a toast "To JetBoy, the father of us all!"
Mayhap, we can do the same, in our hearts and minds, "To Gary, the father of us all!"
Someone on another website,
Someone on another website, devoted to comic books, said "he was the Stan Lee of role-playing." Even more, I'd say he was the Jerry Siegal & Joe Schuster of role-playing.
He invented us, all of us here now. There hasn't been a day in last 32 years when I haven't thought in some way about role-playing games, and it is all because of him. Doesn't matter if there's others out there who could take credit in some manner for "D&D" or that most of what most of us do has moved beyond the initial concepts, we're all here because he lived and dreamed and created.
In George Martin's "Wild Card" series (a role-playing game looking for a place to happen!), the "Aces" (the characters that have superpowers) meet once/year on the anniversary of the day the mutagenic virus that created superpowers in that world was released accidentally when JetBoy, the first costumed crimefighter in that world (akin to Capt. Midnight, a radio/comicbook/TV hero, for those of you old enough to remember him) was chasing some bad guys. Even though, in a roundabout way, JetBoy had screwed up (since the virus kills more often than grants superpowers)the Aces always drink a toast "To JetBoy, the father of us all!"
Mayhap, we can do the same, in our hearts and minds, "To Gary, the father of us all!"