Don Kaye's Family

[woodscanner]

I suspect many of us are familar with the story of how Don Kaye cashed in his life insurance policy for $1,000 to finance the fledgling Tactical Studies Rules with Gary Gygax.
I also understand that he died tragically two years later in 1975.

The irony hadn't struck me before.

Does anyone know what happened to his family? Were they OK?

 

[Umbran]

I suspect many of us are familar with the story of how Don Kaye cashed in his life insurance policy for $1,000 to finance the fledgling Tactical Studies Rules with Gary Gygax.

Wikipedia (with Dragon magazine as the source) says he borrowed against the policy, rather than cashed it in.

Kaye's shares of TSR went to his wife after his death, but Mrs. Kaye wanted nothing to do with the company. They were bought by Brian Blume's father, and later sold to Kevin Blume - giving the Blume brothers majority stake in the company, and setting the stage for Gary's later removal.

The Kaye family's saga from that point on is not mentioned.

 

[woodscanner]

Fair enough - thanks for the info.

I checked back on an article Gary wrote in Space Gamer 41 (1981) and he said:

"Don cashed in a life insurance policy , and with the $1,000 it produced we formed Tactical Studies Rules."

On the other hand, the details of the finances aren't really the thrust of the article, and it's perfectly possible it was a loan - certainly I hope so. Otherwise the Kayes seem to come out pretty badly, no life insurance and the Blumes buying a bunch of shares that were probably not priced at a level they reached at their peak...

 

[woodscanner]

PS Having checked, the article in Dragon 103 is a "TSR Profile" with no credited author, and the info re Don Kaye is simply mentioned in the text rather than a direct quote from anyone.

Is anyone else obsessed enough by irrelevant trivia to point me in the direction of any other sources?

 

[Umbran]

Is anyone else obsessed enough by irrelevant trivia to point me in the direction of any other sources?

I wouldn't expect there to be much other information, honestly. Their personal lives are just that - personal.

 

[woodscanner]

You are right, Umbran, my post above does seem overly inquisitive and intrusive.

It was meant well, I was just thinking that it would be even more of a tragedy if the family of such a pivotal individual in the history of roleplaying games had suffered as a result of his efforts to start up the first roleplaying company.

But, you're right, it's almost forty years ago, we should leave it.

 

[Janx]

from a posibilities angle, what does it matter what happened to Kayes' family?

If he did indeed cash in a policy for $1000 and die 2 years later, that implies the policy wasn't worth much. Even in 1975 dollars.

Ultmately, things were either hard or easy, and his family persevered and overcame it or sunk deeper into problems.

From there, his kids either went on to do great things, or a life of destituion.

Those options, oddly enough, matter little whether he lived or died, they were always possibilities.

I suppose, had he died today, folks might have had a fund raiser for him. But that money may or may not have helped his family (they could have frittered it away, who knows).

Umbran's point is then reinforced. It's not our business what happens next to somebody. At least from a generic curiosity standpoint. Too much of our modern society is obsessed with peering into others lives via facebook, celebrity gossip and reality shows. That's not to say its worth check on people to see if they need help, but there's a line.

 

[Umbran]

You are right, Umbran, my post above does seem overly inquisitive and intrusive.

Well, my point wasn't so much that it was inappropriate to ask, but that the personal details of folks who aren't specifically public figures are, as a practical matter, not usually going to be readily available.

Privacy by obscurity, so to speak.

 

[grodog]

Rob Kuntz was pretty close to Don and to his family, so I'm sure he could comment. I'll ask him when we chat next tomorrow.