- Don Kaye
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Donald R. Kaye Born June 27, 1938 Died January 31, 1975 (aged 36) Nationality United States Donald R. Kaye (June 27, 1938 – January 31, 1975), co-founder of TSR, Inc., was the childhood friend of Gary Gygax, and shared an interest in war games and tabletop miniatures with him during their youth. When Gygax was co-developing the game that would become known as Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) in 1972, Kaye played in the second-ever session; his character Murlynd was one of the first D&D characters created as well as one of the earliest explorers of the dungeons under Gygax's Castle Greyhawk. Kaye and Gygax became convinced that D&D and similar games were an excellent business opportunity, and together they founded TSR, Inc. in 1973. However, only two years later, just as sales of D&D started to increase exponentially, Kaye unexpectedly died of a heart attack at age 36. With no provision made for a partner's death, the stage was set for Gygax to lose control of TSR and ultimately be forced out of the company a decade later.
Contents
Early life and early gaming
Don Kaye was born on June 27, 1938.[1] When he was 8, he became friends with Gary Gygax when Gygax moved to Lake Geneva from Chicago in 1946. They began playing miniature war games in 1953.[2] Gygax and Kaye would design their own miniatures rules for toy soldiers, with a large collection of 54mm and 70mm figures, and would use "ladyfingers" (small firecrackers) to simulate explosions.[3] Kaye, Gygax, Mike Reese, and Leon Tucker created a military miniatures society, Lake Geneva Tactical Studies Association (LGTSA) in 1965,[3] with its first headquarters in Gygax's basement.[2]
Formation of TSR
In late 1972, Dave Arneson and Dave Megarry visited Gary Gygax and ran a session of Blackmoor, a new type of game they were developing, a game that eventually would become Dungeons & Dragons.[4] Gygax immediately began his own campaign and Gygax's children, Ernie and Elise, were the first players in the dungeons of Gygax's Castle Greyhawk,[5] but the next evening, Kaye and Gygax's friends Rob and Terry Kuntz joined Ernie and Elise for the second session. Kaye created the character Murlynd, Rob Kuntz created Robilar and Terry created Terik.[6]
Sensing that this new "role-playing" game would be popular, Kaye and Gygax each invested $1000 to found the publishing company Tactical Studies Rules (later known as TSR, Inc.).[7] Kaye borrowed $1,000 on a life insurance policy to provide his share.[3]
In 1974, Gygax and Kaye were ready to publish Dungeons & Dragons, but they didn't have the cash necessary to pay for the printing. They had originally planned to wait and use the revenue generated by Cavaliers and Roundheads to finance the publication of Dungeons & Dragons. However, they heard that other companies were working on similar projects, and abandoned their plan in favor of getting D&D to the market first.[8] They convinced a gaming acquaintance, Brian Blume to invest in TSR as an equal one-third partner, gaining the necessary financing to publish D&D.[9] Blume's investment allowed them to print 1000 copies of the game in January 1974, which were then hand-assembled in the basement of Gygax's house.
Sudden death
Sales of D&D quickly accelerated due to word of mouth, and TSR geared up for more print runs and expansion rules. However, a year after the first print run of D&D, just as TSR was starting its rapid climb to the top of the gaming world, Kaye suddenly died of a heart attack on January 31, 1975.[1][3] He had not made any special provision in his will for his shares of TSR to be passed on to his partners, so they went to his widow instead. She had not been supportive of Kaye's involvement in TSR, and was not interested in being Gygax's partner,[10] but Gygax did not have the cash to buy her out. Melvin Blume, Brian's father, stepped forward and bought her shares.[8]
Melvin subsequently sold his shares to Brian's brother, Kevin, giving the Blume brothers a majority stake in the company and sowing the seeds of Gygax's removal from TSR ten years later.[9][11]
References
- ^ a b "In Memorium". The Strategic Review (Lake Geneva, Wisconsin: TSR, Inc.) (#2): 1. Summer 1975.
- ^ a b "Gary Gygax". The Economist. March 13, 2008. http://www.economist.com/obituary/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10838120&CFID=17643695&CFTOKEN=eb6b0a6fe805fcd3-C484BEF6-B27C-BB00-0127F658915D58E3. Retrieved October 7, 2008.
- ^ a b c d "TSR Profiles". Dragon (Lake Geneva, Wisconsin: TSR, Inc.) (#103): 56. November 1985.
- ^ Robert Kuntz: "Dave Arneson was the judge, and the other players were: EGG, Terry Kuntz, Ernie Gygax and myself. Megarry was the de facto leader as he understood the campaign area and rules and so he was our overall integration point in the adventure which took place on EGG's dining table." "Original D&D Discussion: Lake Geneva Gaming Group?". 2010-07-19. http://odd74.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=gygax&action=display&thread=4176. Retrieved 2011-06-30.
- ^ Gygax: "It was in the late fall of 1972 when I completed a map of some castle ruins, noted ways down to the dungeon level (singular), and invited my 11-year-old son Ernie and nine-year-old daughter Elise to create characters and adventure. This they did, and around 9 pm ... they had to come back from such imaginary derring-do, put their index card character sheets aside, and get ready for bed. They had had a marvelous time and wanted to keep playing." "Gary Gygax: Q & A (Part IV, Page 1)". EN World. 2003-07-22. http://www.enworld.org/forum/archive-threads/57832-gary-gygax-q-part-iv.html. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
- ^ Gygax: "In a couple of days time Don Kaye (Murlynd), Rob (Robilar, Otto) and Terry (Terik) Kuntz joined the gang." "Gary Gygax: Q & A (Part I, Page 8)". EN World. 2006-08-06. http://www.enworld.org/forum/archive-threads/22566-q-gary-gygax-part-i-8.html. Retrieved 2009-03-15.
- ^ Hoffmann, Frank W.; Bailey, William G. (1991). Sports & Recreation Fads. Haworth Press. p. 109. ISBN 1560240563.
- ^ a b Sacco, Ciro Alessandro. "The Ultimate Interview with Gary Gygax". thekyngdoms.com. http://www.thekyngdoms.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=37. Retrieved 2010-03-23.
- ^ a b "The History of TSR". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on October 4, 2008. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wizards.com%2Fdnd%2FDnDArchives_History.asp&date=2008-10-04. Retrieved August 20, 2005.
- ^ "Gary Gygax: Q & A (Part IV, Page 2)". EN World. 2003-07-23. http://www.enworld.org/forum/archive-threads/57832-gary-gygax-q-part-iv-2.html. Retrieved 2010-03-23.
- ^ Parker, Laura (March 7, 2008). "Gary Gygax: Founding father of fantasy computer games and co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/mar/07/games?gusrc=rss&feed=technology. Retrieved October 7, 2008.
Categories:- 1938 births
- 1975 deaths
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