For those of you who haven’t watched Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, it is a very odd movie. It doesn’t have the themes one would usually find in a kids movie, death being paramount among them. Don’t get me wrong, death is one that shows up from time to time, Bridge to Terabithia is one recent example. This was different. It overshadowed all by a few minutes of the movie at the beginning and the very end. It had typical kid themes as well like believing in yourself and a couple aimed at the adults, ie: grabbing onto what is magical in the world and remember what promise and wonder the world once held in your youth. Ultimately, though, the movie was about death and dealing with it. It even had an amazing discussion about death, which referenced Shakespeare’s King Lear. How many nine year olds do you know who would get the references to or care about King Lear? How many adults? However, it was an amazingly well written scene. Magorium is talking about his eminent death and he says that it is the end of his story. When Shakespeare told the world that King Lear was dead, he wrote simply “He dies.” And that was all. End of story.

This, though, is not an posting about Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium. This is a post about Gary Gygax. I can hear the question marks appearing for some of you who don’t recognize the name. He was the co-creator of the most successful RPG of all time, Dungeons & Dragons, upon which all RPG games - computer and pen & paper - are based. He established the pattern. He was vilified by the press and adored by gamers.

On March 4, 2008, Gary Gygax died.