Gary Gygax, co-creator…

Gary Gygax, co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons, died yesterday. I spent so many hours as a kid in my parents' basement, playing D&D with the neighborhood boys. I think my main character was a thief, and female, and I remember being vaguely irritated that the boys kept trying to get her to kiss their characters. She just wanted to steal some cool stuff.

When I was applying to colleges, one of the essay questions (the U of C made you write three essays, choosing from a longer set of questions) was based on a quote of Bruno Bettelheim's from The Uses of Enchantment, about the importance of fairy tales. My essay response focused on D&D, and I think it was probably the best academic piece I'd written up until that point, even though it was only a page long. It may well have gotten me into college, and since the U of C was the absolutely perfect place for me at that point, a geek's dream, I owe a lot to Mr. Gygax and his creation.

Have to remember to pick up some D&D books at some point, so we can teach Kavi how to play...