For those of you who don't visit Neverwinter Vault, there is a news story today about this morning's passing of Gary Gygax, the man considered the father of Dungeons and Dragons. He was the co-creator of the game with Dave Arneson, and co-foundied the company Tactical Studies Rules (TSR) with Don Kaye in 1974. TSR was the long-time publisher of D&D, before being bought out by Wizards of the Coast. Anyone who played first edition AD&D is very familiar with Mr. Gygax, who authored the core rule books and was the face of the game for many years. He eventually left TSR in a soap-opera like dispute with management, and has been involved in other gaming pursuits ever since. Many spells in D&D, such as the Bigby spells, take their names from some of Gygax's characters. Some more links:
Wikipedia entry for Gary Gygax
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