lorraine williams (includes opinions from Gygax et al)

[Son_of_Thunder]

Also, we should not forget that when TSR allowed fan material on a carefully controlled site (named MPGENet, maybe?), they required creators to abide by a code of ethics - an uniquely stupid and restrictive license which would have excluded almost all serious works of fantasy, legends, folk tales or classical mythology from acceptance.
You can read the whole shameful nonsense here.

I actually liked TSR's Code of Ethics. It was and is a big draw to earlier editions for me. Hmmm, tastes and all.

As for Ms. Williams. Hmmm Yaa, well lets just say she's on my top ten list of people I've never met but know I don't like.

 

[The Grumpy Celt]

Everything I’ve read indicates she was simply a bad manager who got a hold of the company mostly by chance. The antipathy people feel towards her is just in reaction to sensitivity over the hobby. A bit like Ken Lay, only with fewer people hurt.

I still wonder where she is now.

 

[Robbastard]

Welcome to the boards, Robbastard. We have a "no politics, no religion" rule around here. We ask you to abide by it, and such critique of Mother Teresa is over the line.

If you need to review, the rules are available in the FAQ

Sorry you took it personally, but if you'll note, I'm not the one who brought her up in the first place.

 

[kenobi65]

Buck Rogers: an example of the above. Williams was somehow connected to the property

To say the least. The Buck Rogers property was (and still is) owned by the Dille Family Trust. My understanding is that Lorraine is a member of that family. (If you look at the Buck Rogers entry on Wikipedia, Lorraine is referred to as "Lorraine Dille".)

There is no way they made money on it.

If "they" = TSR, undoubtedly not. One suspects that the Dille family made a few bucks, however.

 

[Wolfspider]

Sorry you took it personally, but if you'll note, I'm not the one who brought her up in the first place.

Dude, he's one of the moderators of this forum. He's just trying to keep order for all our benefit. You might want to take any private little comments or complaints like this to email.

 

[Robbastard]

To say the least. The Buck Rogers property was (and still is) owned by the Dille Family Trust. My understanding is that Lorraine is a member of that family. (If you look at the Buck Rogers entry on Wikipedia, Lorraine is referred to as "Lorraine Dille".)

According to http://www.acaeum.com/forum/about3485-20.html, she's the granddaughter of John Flint Dille, co-creator of Buck Rogers.

Here's the full post:

This is from the "Buck Rogers-The First 60 Years in the 25th Century" book that was published by TSR in 1988.

"Lorraine Dille Williams-
Lorraine Dille Williams's association with Buck Rogers is rich in heritage. Her grandfather, John Flint Dille, was founder of the National Newspaper Syndicate of America and co-creator of the comic strip Buck Rogers in the 25th Century with Dick Calkins and Phil Nowlan. Her father, Robert Crabtree Dille, was president of the National Newspaper Syndicate. In every way, she grew up with Buck.

After receiving a B.A. degree in History from the University of California at Berkeley, she worked at the National Newspaper Synicate, as an assistant administrator at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, and held various administrative positions with the National Easter Seal Society. She joined the TSR staff as executive vice president, administration, in 1985 and became TSR's president and chief executive officer in that same year.

In addition to her other duties, she has taken up the task left her by her father-"protecting the integrity of Buck and maintaining the vision of John Flint Dille, Dick Calkins, and Phil Nowlan. "

There's also a pic of her on Monte Cook's site: http://www.montecook.com/cgi-bin/page.cgi?mc_los_141

 

[kenobi65]

According to http://www.acaeum.com/forum/about3485-20.html, she's the granddaughter of John Flint Dille, co-creator of Buck Rogers.

That's what I thought I'd remembered, but I wasn't sure.

Nice little conflict of interest there, huh?

 

[Ulrick]

I think it'd be great if Lorraine Williams heard about this thread, joined ENWorld, and posted her side of the story.

 

[kenobi65]

I think it'd be great if Lorraine Williams heard about this thread, joined ENWorld, and posted her side of the story.

It's be interesting, no doubt, though, if the stories about her opinions of gamers are anything close to true, I'd imagine she wouldn't come within a mile of EN World.

 

[Mistwell]

Anybody know where she went to work after leaving TSR?

 

[Arnwyn]

I still wonder where she is now.

Anybody know where she went to work after leaving TSR?

From WizarDru's post (#9):

Apparently, after selling the company in 1997, Lorraine Williams moved to Germany and has since disappeared from the gaming industry and public radar.

This is what I remember as well.

 

[The Grumpy Celt]

Apparently, after selling the company in 1997, Lorraine Williams moved to Germany and has since disappeared from the gaming industry and public radar.

(Grumpy starts trembling and he clenches his teeth)

Will… not… trigger…Godwin’s law…

(Grumpy lets out a long breath)

Well, I hope things are well for her as she goose-steps down to the beer hall… I mean… uh… I hope things are going well for her in her adopted home.

 

[Umbran]

Sorry you took it personally, but if you'll note, I'm not the one who brought her up in the first place.

Dude, I didn't take it personally. As a moderator, it is part of my job.

You apparently did not read The Rules, as I suggested, or you'd know that you're not supposed to discuss things like this in-thread. Go, read the rules, and if you have further questions or comments, take them to e-mail with one of the mods. Our addresses are available in a post stickied to the top of the Meta forum.

 

[Robbastard]

Anybody know where she went to work after leaving TSR?

Don't know, but I was able to find her home address online a few years back--I think she lives in Chicago.

 

[rvalle]

Don't know, but I was able to find her home address online a few years back--I think she lives in Chicago.

Wow... has Chicago moved to Germany?


>I< live in Chicago(ish). I can state that, so far, I've not run into her.

rv

 

[Mistwell]

Well, her brother is Flint Dille. Flint is still a fairly public figure, and shouldn't be too difficult to contact. In fact, he's on LinedIn.com, though I do not have paid access so I cannot email him directly there.

About Flint Dille

Flint Dille is one of the most experienced and respected creators in the video game business today. Flint's career includes extensive animation writing, editing, and/or producing for hit television animation programs including G.I. Joe, Inhumanoids, The Transformers animated feature, and American Tail II: Fievel Goes West. Flint is also active in the live-action feature film business, having co-created and co-executive produced Dimension's 2005 cult horror film, Venom (aka Backwater). Flint is consistently the game publisher's "go-to" writer for major franchise properties, including Fantastic Four 2, The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, Teen Titans, Dead to Rights, Superman Returns, James Bond: Tomorrow Never Dies, Soviet Strike, Nuclear Strike, and two upcoming projects official announcements for which are pending. In addition to his full slate of video game work, Flint has an original game/multimedia property in development and a book about video game writing (co-written with his frequent writing partner John Zuur Platten) that is expected to be published within the year. Flint, grandson of the creator of Buck Rogers, has also written for comics and worked for game company, TSR.

 

[Ranger REG]

Well, her brother is Flint Dille. Flint is still a fairly public figure, and shouldn't be too difficult to contact. In fact, he's on LinedIn.com, though I do not have paid access so I cannot email him directly there.

I wonder if he conspired with his sister on the running (or converting) of TSR business.

 

[T. Foster]

Flint Dille was a friend of Gary Gygax's during his Hollywood exile and they co-wrote the "Sagard the Barbarian" series of Choose Your Own Adventure books and an unproduced D&D Movie screenplay. The story, as I understand it, is that when Gygax returned to Lake Geneva in mid-1985 and was trying to save TSR from the brothers Blume's mismanagement, he was looking for an outside person to bring in to help get the company's finances back into shape and his friend Flint recommended his sister...

 

[prosfilaes]

At least you got a letter of warning. They could just skipped that part and send a court summon.

Not if I understand civil law right. The first obligation in civil law is that the two parties make an attempt to resolve the issue. TSR had to send him a letter first. They could have demanded money, but going to court would have cost TSR money and taken time and energy, whereas a C&D is pretty cheap to draft and send. TSR would have had to have been pretty actively stupid, not just foolish, to do more than send him a C&D; heck, even most cut and dried copyright infringements are handled with a C&D.

 

[The Little Raven]

I figured if this thread went long enough we'd find somebody hit first-hand by the TSR online fiasco. As an example of attitudes of present-day companies, look how much product identity is thrown around even on this board, when doing everything from discussing Forgotten Realms developments, to the Plots and Places and Character forums, etc. If WotC had jumped on every fan discussing Elminster or Bigby like they used to, I seriously doubt 3E would have been as popular as it was (and is), because the word of mouth would have been much smaller.

Yeah. TSR punked me at 13, and the IRS punked me at 17 (apparently, I had been evading taxes since before my birth; it turned out to be simply because of clerical errors with my SSN).

I think WotC really understands that you can't control this kind of dialogue between fans, and it serves your best interests to allow it, because discussion breeds interest.

At least you got a letter of warning. They could just skipped that part and send a court summon.

Giving me a warning that you're considering stabbing me doesn't make me dread the potential stabbing any less... especially at 13.