Early life and inspiration

Born in Chicago on July 27, 1938, Gygax was the son of Swiss immigrant and Chicago Symphony Orchestra violinist Ernst Gygax,1 and Almina Emelie Burdick.2 The family moved to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin in 1946, just before Gygax's eighth birthday,3 where he lived until his death in 2008. After he dropped out of high school during his junior year, Gygax worked odd jobs for a while, but eventually continued his education by attending night classes in junior college, and by pursuing anthropology classes at the University of Chicago.4

Among his interests were a love of gaming and an appreciation for fantasy and science fiction literature. Gygax started his interest in gaming when he was five, playing card games such as pinochle, and then chess.5 At the age of ten, he would enact what would today be called "live action role-playing games" with his friends, with one of them acting as a referee.6 His interest in science fiction and fantasy stemmed directly from the influence of his father, who had introduced him to pulp novels.7

His interest in games, combined with an appreciation of history, eventually led Gygax to begin playing miniature war games in 1953, with friend Don Kaye; by December 1958 the game Gettysburg from the Avalon Hill company particularly captured Gygax's attention.8 It was also from Avalon Hill that he ordered the first blank hexagon mapping sheets that were available, which he then employed to design his own games.9 Gygax learned about H. G. Wells' Little Wars book for play of military miniatures wargames, and Fletcher Pratt's Naval Wargame book; by 1965 he was active in the wargame hobby for which he wrote many magazine articles. Then Gygax looked for innovative ways to generate random numbers, and used not only common dice (with six sides), but dice of all five platonic solid shapes.10

• 1. "Gary Gygax", The Times (March 6, 2008). Retrieved on 7 October 2008.
• 2. La Farge, Paul (September 2006). "Destroy All Monsters". The Believer Magazine.
• 3. Kushner, David. "Dungeon Master: The Life and Legacy of Gary Gygax". Wired.com. Retrieved on 2008-10-16.
• 4. Sullivan, Patricia (March 5, 2008). "E. Gary Gygax; Co-Creator Of Dungeons & Dragons", Washington Post. Retrieved on 17 October 2008.
• 5. Barmak, Sarah (2008-11-08). "Gary Gygax, King Nerd", Toronto Star, p. ID.2. Retrieved on 20 December 2008.  (Registration required)
• 6. Gygax, Gary. Long Biography of E(rnest) Gary Gygax (revision 6-05), ©2005
• 7. "Gary Gygax", The Economist (March 13, 2008). Retrieved on 7 October 2008.
• 8. Fannon, Sean Patrick (1999). The Fantasy Roleplaying Gamer's Bible (2nd ed.) Obsidian Studios. ISBN 0-9674429-0-7.
• 9. "Obituary of Gary Gygax; Godfather of Role-Playing Games and Co-Creator of Dungeons & Dragons", The Daily Telegraph (2008-03-06), p. 25. Retrieved on 20 December 2008.  (Registration required)
• 10. Parker, Laura (2008-03-07). "Gary Gygax: Founding father of fantasy computer games and co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons", The Guardian. Retrieved on 7 October 2008.