RIP -- Gary Gygax

Gary Gygax died this week. For those of you who take your cues from the mainstream culture, Mr. Gygax was the creator of the fantasy role playing game Dungeons & Dragons, and the brains behind the TSR Company that created anad marketed dozens of similar role playing games.

That's the official resume. To some of us though, Mr. Gygax will always be remembered as another bust on the Mount Rushmore of Geekdom. He helped launch Geek Nation. His games provided a platform from which thousands of geeks -- myself included -- could view the world, take some inspiration, meet other geeks and eventually appreciate the power and tao of Geekdom. He was the official after school program for the rest of us.

It is now commonly accepted that this is a Geek World and the rest of you just live in it. That is, while we may give superficial paens to The Boy Next Door, The Varsity Athlete and other constructs of mainstream culture, we all know that the truly important parts of our world are run by geeks, the people who write code, do research, wrie book, make policy, construct alogorithms, and design financial systems for world wide capital accumulation.

Next time you insert your ATM card, get a retinal scan, or pore over the details of vastly complex transaction, you should thank a geek. And that Geek should thank Gary Gygax.