mythichistorian, posts by tag: obituary - LiveJournal

You created worlds and characters that warmed the heart and have forever coloured the British childhood.  Saggy cloth cats and strange knitted aliens with piping voices, noble Vikings, honourable engine drivers and friendly dragons populated the landscape of your imagination - and, generously, you shared them all with us - with wide eyed children, captivated by a combination of simple images and stunning story telling.

Thank you.

Thank you for Bagpuss, and Professor Yaffle and the Mouse organ.  Thank you for Noggin, and for Thor Nogson and even for Nogbad the Bad.  Thank you for the Clangers, for the Soup dragon and for blue string pudding.  Thank you for the Poggles and the Pingwings, and for Ivor the engine and his Welsh dragon.  Thank you for gentle magic and generous creativity.

 

Gary Gygax has died.

This was the man who created 'Dungeons & Dragons.'  Who inspired thousands of people to exercise their imagination.  Who gave us permission to play in worlds where we could chose to be heroes and villains, wielders of magic and creatures with amazing ablities and power.  

You may never have cracked open a Player's Handbook, sketched out a dungeon on graph paper, or rolled a stats die.  You may never have had the pleasure of casting a 25d Fireball, or hewed your way through hordes of orcs.  Never acquired a +5 Holy Avenger, or conversed with a Dragon in the dark ....  but if you are a fan, if you've read fantasy written in the last twenty five years, if you smiled at Giles' comment about being a wounded dwarf - then Gary Gygax has touched your life.

I know he influenced mine in a great many ways.

Thank you, Gary.  Thank you for enlightening me on the use of 12 and 20 sided dice, for giving me a playground in which to stretch my mind and challenge my creativity.  For helping me find that trying to describe a haunted room to a bunch of disparate (and occasional desperate) university students led me to become a much better writer.  For inspiring worlds in which I still wander (and occasionally write.)  For giving me something to share with the man I've loved for nearly thirty years.   
 
And, for a much better tribute than I could ever write, check out the latest edition of 'Order of the Stick.'  I think that smile on Roy's face says it all ...

I heard today that Barry Morse has died.   

He was an actor I greatly admired: I had the pleasure of nearly meeting him at a convention once - and I say nearly, because really, all I had the courage to do when we came face to face was hover nearby and feel overwhelmed by his presence.  He was a man with a great deal of charisma, but - unlike many in his profession - he came across as self effacing and vaguely bemused by the admiration of the gathered fans.  And the speech he gave was intelligent, witty, pointedly observed and consumately presented.  As well it might be from an actor of his skill and calibre.

His most familiar role to me (and possibly to many) was that of Victor Bergman, chief scientist of Moonbase Alpha - although he will probably be best remembered for playing the dogged Lt Gerard in The Fugitive.  

I have always been drawn to actors with notable voices, and his was a distinctive one.  He's also had an interesting influence on my life.  I cast him as a dragon and a wizard in my first fantasy novel (and no, I never finished it, but there's still time ...)  and it was while we were plotting a tale set in the Space 1999 universe, that my dearly beloved asked me to marry him, over 28 years ago ...

"What would Victor do then?" I asked.  "Probably say - would you marry me?"  he said.  "By the way - would you marry me?"

I said yes.  We're still together (most weekends, at least!)  I'm not sure we ever finished the story though ...

I wouldn't dream of trying to speak for such a notable soul, but I do know that he was a great admirer of George Bernard Shaw.  I can think of no better tribute than to quote that great playwright, as I'm sure Barry himself did, on many occasions.

'This is the true joy in life, being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one. Being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as I live it is my privilege - my *privilege* to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I love. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me; it is a sort of splendid torch which I've got a hold of for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.'

It was a privilege to have been witness to, and to have shared even the briefest of moments with, that bright flame.  

(News article here for those who might be interested)