TSR Chat with Rose Estes

[Sacrosanct]

I also found it interesting how she coined the term “Rainbow Dragons”, and now apparently hasbro has trademarked that phrase.

On a personal note, I’m sure there’s a huge story about her family. Her parents were Jewish Russian immigrants. Just prior to wwii.

 

[Parmandur]

She was much less...polite about Gary. Some of the things she said might sound outrageous or spiteful if we didn't already know certain things, both from witnesses and Gary's own words. As the only women hire at first, she recalls vividly some of the things he told her. One statement was, "Women are good for only two jobs: secretaries and housewives. Anything else and they're a whore." He paid her $32,000 a year for all of her writing, and told her on a nearly daily basis how lucky she was to have that job. She mentioned how mistreated Mary was, because she worked to the bone to make the family work, and as soon as Gary found money, he "wanted a wife to put in fur coats and diamond earrings, and that wasn't Mary. But it was Gail. Who was also his secretary..." She also recalls (she is Jewish) that he came back one time from California and told her, "If you don't like Jews, stay out of California." She was heartbroken when Gary went off on Rob Kuntz in a meeting in front of the others.

That chewing out in a meeting is covered in the fourth episode of the podcast When We Were Wizards, definitely happened that way. It was ar the employee meeting after the attempted coup by the St. Paul crew, and Kuntz said something that triggered Gary.

Wish I could doubt any of those other things, but they sound about right.

 

[Sacrosanct]

That chewing out in a meeting us covered in the fourth episode of the podcast When We Were Wizards, definitely happened thst way. It was rhe employee meeting after the attempted coup by the St. Paul crew, and Kuntz said something that triggered Gary.

Wish I could doubt any of those other things, but they sound about right.

My impression after a lengthy discussion with her was that she felt that Gary was a decent guy when he was getting his way, but he would absolutely steamroll and not care who got chewed up and spit out during the process of him trying to get what he wants. She's not the only person to have that impression of him that I've read or been told by people who were there.

 

[Parmandur]

My impression after a lengthy discussion with her was that she felt that Gary was a decent guy when he was getting his way, but he would absolutely steamroll and not care who got chewed up and spit out during the process of him trying to get what he wants. She's not the only person to have that impression of him that I've read or been told by people who were there.

Yeah, and a product of his time in a lot of ways. Nobody is perfect.

Still, the open antisemitism and aggressive misogyny are disappointing.

 

[Zardnaar]

My impression after a lengthy discussion with her was that she felt that Gary was a decent guy when he was getting his way, but he would absolutely steamroll and not care who got chewed up and spit out during the process of him trying to get what he wants. She's not the only person to have that impression of him that I've read or been told by people who were there.

Yeah sounds like a bit of a (insert naughty word).

Lorraine Williams coos eone flak but she did buy D&Dvtine *she saved it) and you don't hear stories about her being super toxic more out of touch.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Yeah sounds like a bit of a (insert naughty word).

Lorraine Williams coos eone flak but she did buy D&Dvtine *she saved it) and you don't hear stories about her being super toxic more out of touch.

Rose said that Lorraine told you like it was, and was straight up. You might not have agreed or liked her, but she was up front; no broken promises (like pay and royalties) which apparently happened a lot under Gary.

 

[Voadam]

The endless quest books were fantastic. I was a big fan of her work on those and they were pretty foundational for me when I was first starting to play D&D. I still have a half dozen or so of them.

 

[Alzrius]

Lorraine Williams coos eone flak but she did buy D&Dvtine *she saved it) and you don't hear stories about her being super toxic more out of touch.

Actually, the bulk of the stories about her in Ben Riggs' book made her sound that way. She wasn't a caricature, of course; and there were people who had nice things to say about her, but the bulk of it confirmed the popular impression of her being a bad boss (to put it nicely).

 

[billd91]

Actually, the bulk of the stories about her in Ben Riggs' book made her sound that way. She wasn't a caricature, of course; and there were people who had nice things to say about her, but the bulk of it confirmed the popular impression of her being a bad boss (to put it nicely).

That’s not the impression I got.

 

[Alzrius]

That’s not the impression I got.

Well then you took a very different impression from his book than I did. Consider the opening quote to Chapter 6 (emphasis mine):

I learned a lot from Lorraine, both the good things she did and the bad things she did. She was not always in touch with what we did, but she was very loyal. I think I'm a way better manager for having worked for her. In the end, I think she really wanted to make things work. She wanted to take the company to the next level. I just think she didn't have the capacity to understand it, and people were so afraid of her. One thing I think she gets short shrift on is, her reputation was so great and almost mythologized where people were afraid to say no to her. I think maybe one of the reasons I lasted as long as I did there was that's one thing I did do. She once said, "Fallone, he's an acquired taste." If I thought it was wrong, I would tell her, and she appreciated me in a weird way for that, by not being a yes-person. Though she would yell at me a lot, you just got over it. -Jim Fallone, TSR Director of Sales and Marketing.