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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Thunderfoot" data-source="post: 4089741" data-attributes="member: 34175">Though there are several tributes already posted, I didn't feel like this should have been included.  If this gets locked and deleted, so be it, but the way I am feeling now, I have to do this.I heard this morning that EGG had died.  I was in shock, it couldn't be, it was a mistake, a poorly timed joke and one that I didn't find funny.  And then, I cried, a lot.  I had the chance to talk to Gary in the Ram restaurant last August at GenCon, but didn't because I didn't want to disturb him.  He was spending time with his wife and the Troll Lord Games folks celebrating his anniversary.   I now regret that I didn't stop and tell him thank you for giving me my life.  A small thing really but one that I feel I cannot stress that he indirectly held a hand in.It was late in 1978 and I was anything but personable.  I was introverted beyond reason and frankly hated most all human beings.  This may not seem like much with the way modern society is, but in the pre-dawn years of the glorious 80s, backward self-image rarely reared its ugly head.  I didn't have many friends and I didn't really like to talk to strangers.  My cousin coaxed me over to his house one day after school and introduced me to this neat game called D&D.  We only had 6-siders and only two of the books, but we muddled through and I fell in love with it.  I went out and got my first job in 1979, selling greeting cards in order to earn money to fund my habit.  I had to face up to people, talk to them and sell them a product that most of them didn't want and could get cheaper.  But I was on a mission.   I spent afternoons after school, and most of the summer selling cards and gift wrap.  and after a couple months had earned enough credit to turn points into cash.  Lucky me, by 1980, the updated red-box basic rules came out (with the Easley artwork) and was available as a prize, so I used points for that too.  Then I quit and became a full-time gamer.  I had to interact with people, I would talk about my characters, I would shop in game stores, book stores and anywhere I thought sourcebooks, graph paper and such might be sold.I became the prototypical nerd of the 80s, playing D&D, listening to Rush, reading Fantasy fiction and posting on computer bulletin Boards (the precursor to the Internet).  I had no choice but to become an extrovert as I was pushed into the DMs chair.  I wrote pages of material, studied history, philosophy and mythology in an attempt to emulate my hero - Gary Gygax.Over the years D&D has led me to many great endeavors, to meet friends I will never forget, and to lead my family down the same path that I tread, the life of a roleplayer.  My wife, son and daughter all play and is one of the common bonds that strengthen our family relationships.  As many of you know, I am now quite animated and love to talk - to nearly anyone.  I have had the great pleasure of meeting many of you in person and others only through this our electronic forum.  Before he died Gary sent my son a congratulatory letter on his attaining Eagle Scout and asked him to seek him out at GenCon in order that he might sign it in person.  Now that letter is forever blank and I anguish for my son as he doesn't yet know the news of Gary's passing.Because of Gary's "crazy little hobby" I have found courage to speak my mind, stand up when I would have otherwise ran and to have been able to play music to thousands of people, all on the courage to go out and speak, inspired by a need to play a game.  I cannot begin to thank Gary enough, because he truly did give me a life that I might otherwise not have had.  A chance to be here and love and laugh with people I PROUDLY call friends and a chance to be a good father and husband.  I can't prove that these events might not have otherwise happened, but deep in my heart of hearts, I know.  Gary changed my life, and I will be forever and eternally grateful.</blockquote>

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