Thank you so much for this story. Truly remarkable. Gary Gygax is a treasure.
I had the honor to sit next to Gary for about an hour and a half on Friday as he signed copies of his new Planet Stories novel, The Anubis Murders. Pretty much the whole time, gamers approached him to thank him for changing their lives for the better. People talked about how they met their wife because of Dungeons & Dragons, how it helped them to read and imagine as children, and how the game brought them to some of their best friends.
It was amazing. Everyone had a story, and everyone was humbled to get the chance to shake his hand. Gary was gracious as could be, happy to share a story about Dave Trampier painting himself onto every face of the 1e Player's Handbook (except for the guy in the middle on the back cover, who is Gary himself!). Happy to listen to stories about favorite characters or campaigns.
Not happy, as it happens, to sign Daigle's
, but I suppose every man has his limits.
The best moment by far was, an hour into this parade of happiness and humility, a guy comes up and looks over our Planet Stories line. "Would you like to have a book autographed by Mr. Gygax?" I asked.
The guy looks at the book, looks at Gary blankly, and says "I'm not familiar with your work. I'll have to look it up."
Gary crumples his face a little bit and, with a gruff chuckle, says "Try DUNGEONS & DRAGONS!"
Nimrod flashes a defeated look and slinks off into the crowd, his eyes on the floor where they belong.
So many amazing things happened at this Gen Con that I've already forgotten half of them. But I'll remember that hour and a half with Gary Gygax for the rest of my life.
--Erik Mona
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