Gary Gygax, born on July 27, 1938, passed away on March 4, 2008 at sixty-nine years of age. He was an American writer and game designer, best known as the co-creator of the highly successful tabletop role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons. Gygax’s career in the gaming industry began in the 1960s, with the founding of the GenCon gaming convention, and the publication of his first and most famous work, Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). D&D, a fantasy-based role-playing game, was first published by Tactical Studies Rules (TSR) in 1974, and Gygax was game’s lead system designer. By the late 1970s, D&D had become a cultural phenomenon, with millions of copies of the game being sold in more than a dozen languages. Gygax authored several more D&D-related books and edited countless others during his storied career. Gygax also helped popularize several other games, including Traveller, Boot Hill, and Chainmail. At the time of his death, Gygax was considered one of the most influential people in the gaming industry. He was inducted into the Origins Hall of Fame and Adventure Gaming Hall of Fame, and was posthumously awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2010 Game Developer’s Choice Awards. Gygax is survived by his six children and five grandchildren.