So let's talk about it: does the book ever claim nobody at TSR was shocked by Gary's ouster, in contradiction to what Rose Estes said? If so, please name me who is disagreeing in the book with that claim.
It would appear that you did not actually read what I wrote? Because as I wrote, you took a single sentence out of context- I agree that people were surprised, but I was referring to Gygax being the only person surprised
at the board meetings. Which is something I have done repeatedly! I assumed you would understand that when I responded to you.
But since you asked, I will show you how it is done.
What does the book say about Rose Estes as an employee of TSR thinking about Gygax's ouster? Nothing. Because Rose Estes wasn't an employee of TSR. As I wrote in my review of the podcast, you
always need to make sure you understand the history when you use oral recollections of events from long ago.
Rose Estes was an employee of TSR during the Egbert incident, famously answering the phone when a reporter called in 1979 to ask about a missing boy and replying, "What boy?" (Game Wizards 161-62). Later, she was responsible for the creation of the
Endless Quest series in 1981 (modern readers can think of this as
Choose Your Own Adventure) that was the beginning of TSR's attempt to diversify into the fiction book market.
Id. 216, 225. Rose Estes was offered stock options by TSR, which she sought to exercise in 1982.
Id. 230. Despite internal company documents that stated that the Blumes' refusal to honor her stock options was a violation - the Blumes refused, and Gygax reviewed the document that stated that TSR had committed a documented breach to Estes and replied, in writing, that he had confidence in the Blumes.
Id.
Estes was far from alone in having stock options that TSR refused to honor (see also, Will Niebling, Mike Carr).
Id. 245. But between the stock option rejection and continued issues with the TSR of Gygax and the Blumes, Estes left in 1983.
Id. 258. In 1984, Estes filed a lawsuit against TSR over the unpaid and unfulfilled stock options.
Id. 285.
After Gygax had full control of TSR, he did nothing to settle the lawsuits- but at the meeting the Gygax (and no one else) claims that Gygax made no type of offer to the Blumes (and after which the Blumes agreed to a severance agreement), Blume was deposed in Estes's lawsuit that Gygax was still fighting.
Id. 296.
In 1986, after Lorraine had control of the company, the various lawsuits and liabilities that Gygax and the Blumes had saddled TSR with that screwed over their employees were resolved.
Id. 316;
accord that podcast. Not all of them despite the effort- Niebling took his case to a deserved court judgment of $1.6 million.
Id. Estes returned to TSR in 1986.
So to answer your question in full- please try and read what I wrote. And while I loved Rose Estes, it really helps to remember that she left TSR, and only returned after Gygax was ousted. And the reason she left was because the Blumes, with the full actual knowledge and approval of Gygax, refused to give her what she had been contractually promised. And when Gygax was in full charge ... he continued to fight her attempts to get what she deserved.
If your point is that someone who was badly wronged by the business incompetence of Gygax and only returned to TSR after he left (and had no actual knowledge, as she stated in the podcast) of the board meetings was surprised by his ouster... I am not sure you really want to keep making points. But from now on, please continue to make them without trying to battle over easily verifiable facts. As much as I like history, I do not like ... whatever this is.
