In Memorium.....

It never ceases to amaze me how long it takes news to reach me.  This week I have learned of the passing of two heroes from my formative years.  The Stars and Stripes newspaper here never mentioned a thing of their passing, so I had to find out through a magazine I bought at random, and from someone else's Xanga site.

The first person is Edwin Gary Gygax.  For those of you that even had a passing interest in the fantasy world of Dungeons and Dragons, you know this name very well, for he is considered the founding father of the Role Playing Game.  Through his games, he showed people that with imagination, anything was possible.  The meekest could rule kingdoms, the socially awkward could become great leaders, and the even the seemingly cowardly could be elevated to heroic status.  His worlds gave both kids and adults a place to escape to, and regardless of the negative press, his games taught the world that it was okay to make-believe, no matter how old you are.  Holywood has tried twice to replicate the world Mr. Gygax had engineered in his mind, and both times the movies have failed miserably.   I guess there really are some places that can only come alive in one's mind.

 Edwin Gary Gygax:  1941-2008,  You will be missed, DM

The second person came as quite a shock.  Before I left for Korea, I would keep abreast of his TV show, American Hotrod, as well as the projects that his company released to the public.   Back in the 80's he was responsible for building the car that would become one of ZZ-Top's trademarks, as well as building cars that were featured in every magazine that catered to Hot Rodders and Gearheads alike.   It was on the front page of Popular Hot Rodding that I learned that he had passed on very suddenly at the age of 63.   This man is Hot Rod legend Boyd Coddington.   

Boyd Coddington: 1947-2008.  Thank you for providing many of us with the inspiration to start, and the determination to finish.

I can say with certainty that there is nobody in the custom car and truck business that has not been influenced by Mr. Coddington's revolutionary thinking when it comes to building custom vehicles.  Another custom building legend, Chip Foose, owes his entire well being to Boyd Coddington, as Mr. Foose was his apprentice before parting company to pursue their own visions.  When I was bitten by the custom bug and started building Annie, I would look at Boyd's truck renderings and imagine how Annie would look someday.  While Boyd had undoubtedly a bigger budget to work with, he did come from humble beginnings, and it has given me the strength to not give up on the project, even though it seems stalled indefinitely.

The ZZ-Top mobile

While these men fall on complete opposites of the spectrum, both men left this world a better place through their individual passions, and gave us positive role models in an era where such people are increasingly harder to find.  If there is in fact a heaven, I'm sure we will find these two there...

*Special thanks To AtaiDanu, for posting about Gary Gygax, otherwise I would have never known...