Meaningless Meanderings

Passing On

On Tuesday, March 4^th, 2008, Gary Gygax passed away in his home at the age of 69.

“Who is Gary Gygax?” many of you may be asking while you search Google or Wikipedia in hopes of understanding what I will say next. But I won't leave you to search for the information, as I will give you what you will need to know.

Gary Gygax is not a “typical” household name, and therefore his death is not as “important” as that of Heath Ledger, nor is it as “important” as the escapades of figures of pop-culture. Many children have never even heard the name referenced while many of the generation before me may have ignored him. But Gary Gygax is not just another name to be cast aside and forgotten. He was a writer, a creator, and most importantly, he inspired thousands, perhaps millions, to participate in academic pursuits. He has changed many lives with his work, many for good.

Gary Gygax is the creator of Dungeons and Dragons and the writer of the Greyhawk series.

“So how is this inspiring?” many of you will ask as you prepare to close your browser and move on to better things. “Isn't that game evil?” others will ask, either from lack of knowledge of downright ignorance.

This game is important to many who are considered “geeks.” This game granted people a way to bond when they could not otherwise, a way to release tensions, and sparked creativity in many minds. Even with the game entering the wrong hands and creating a stigma towards its players, the benefits that the game brought still outweigh the flaws.

Through his creation, Gary Gygax has inspired his players to become doctors and lawyers, sparked ideas with the writing community and, some would say, rekindled the love of fantasy to a new generation. Even today, Dungeons and Dragons is still known to the new generation of gamers (although in a form different from Gygax's original creation), and the novel series that sparked from the game still continue.

Sure, Gygax may not be an amazing actor or a well-known scientist, but does this mean that we can just brush away his death as irrelevant? The same could be said for any other death: if that person impacted just one life, then they should be recognized for it.

Before I end, I know that many of you, my readers, are wondering “Why would he write about this?” That is a question I can simply answer: Gygax is one of the few names that inspired me to pursue my degree in writing, and reminded me that fantasy is still alive.