Memoriam: Gary Gygax

The father of role-playing games and the co-founder of Dungeons & Dragons, Gary Gygax, has died. Gygax, along with Dave Arneson, created the long-popular fantasy game in 1974 which is estimated to have been played by 20 Million people.

Bellairsia had the privilege to share a brief email with Gygax back in 2001, setting the record straight on how much of The Face in the Frost influenced the creation of D&D.

“I too like Bellairs' writing, and enjoyed The Face in the Frost a lot,” Gygax wrote. “However, long before I read his work I was (and still am) a devotee of Jack Vance's stories. It was Jack Vance in his Dying Earth and Eyes of Overworld that inspired the D&D magic system.”

Gygax was 69 years old.

• Review of The Face in the Frost.
• Remembrances from Evil Voodoo Celt