R.I.P. Gary Gygax

This piece of news spread like lightning across the internet. Gary Gygax, father of the role playing game, died today at the age of 69.

While I did dabble in Dungeons and Dragons as well as Advanced Dungeons & Dragons when I was in Secondary School, it never became a great love because it required huge investments in time and money. However, the name Gary Gygax was already legendary in the 1980s. I have a few friends who were heavily into table-top RPGs and Gygax's name was always whispered with a tone of reverence. And most certainly, what I got out of those few role playing sessions was a serious love affair with the fantasy medieval genre.

Since the retro 80s, I have devoured dozens of fantasy literature, including the many books of David and Leigh Eddings, the Wheel of Time books by Robert Jordan and the entire Midkemia and Tsuranni storyline by Raymond E. Feist. Even my interest in MMOs came about because it was a role playing game. Marlyene saw how EverQuest held my attention when she was playing it and gave me a copy for my birthday so many years ago. For sure, that love of the MMORPG genre that continues to this day.

So it is with great sadness as I see all these legendary people die of old age one after another in the past few years. So here is a quick tribute to a few other great people who have recently left us.

Keith Parkinson (October 22, 1958 - October 26, 2005), fantasy artist and illustrator for so many TSR products, DragonLance and Forgotten Realms books, Magic: The Gathering cards and MMO cover illustrations for EverQuest and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. By the way, if you are really interested in his works, Kingsgate: The Art of Keith Parkinson is the book to get.

Leigh Eddings (?? - Feburary 28, 2007), silent co-author with her husband David Eddings, has her words woven in parts of The Belgariad and The Malloreon series. She is officially recognized as co-author with Belgarath the Sorcerer and Polgara the Sorceress, both of which are still my favorite books.

Robert Jordan (October 17, 1948 – September 16, 2007), probably best known as the author of the epic 12 books long Wheel of Time series and a series of Conan The Barbarian books. I hope the final book, A Memory of Light, would be a fitting tribute to the man.