Who remembers Clara Peller? She was the irascible “little
old lady” in the Wendy’s ads in the early to mid ‘80’s demanding to know
“Where’s the beef?” She made a million bucks demanding answers, in a sense.
I have a new question for the Gygax Mem. Fund (GMF). I have
searched the records of the State of Wisc; I have contacted the Probate Court
of Walworth County, Wisc.; there has been no Will probated after Gary’s death.
Gail Carpenter Gygax (GCG) would have the world believe that Gary died
intestate. I happen to know that he had one while I worked for him; he told of
the unique provisions that he had modeled after his (I believe it was)
Grandfather. I wonder what happened to that one?
Nearly two months ago, the GMF, through one of its shills,
promised us a complete audit by a third party firm or accountant. Where is it?
The tax returns provided, some years after they should have been available
(according to the laws concerning 501-c-3’s chartered in WI) do not add up.
Literally. They don’t add up.
They also show another disturbing trend. According to the
expenses listed on the returns, the GMF has ground to a virtual standstill.
Allowing for the fact that GCG was ill for a good deal of time one year, I find
it odd that the GMF raised more money during the year she was ill than they did
the following year when she was apparently healthy (or at least healthier).
Now the GMF wants to sell us bricks. Come on… where will
they likely end up?
According to public records available for the State of
Wisc., there has been no meeting with the City Council in Lake Geneva about
“the site” for some time (a couple of years?).
One has to wonder and can only speculate in this tangled
web. One might speculate as to the values apparently displayed. If the Memorial
is so very important to her, why did she feel it was necessary to spend time
and money Trademarking Gary’s name, even going so far as to force his sons to
give up their publishing effort, Gygax Magazine?
Tower of Gygax—possibly the best way we gamers could have celebrated
Gary and his creation, was essentially killed by GCG. It started out as a
volunteer effort to do something to remember and pay tribute to Gary. A bunch
of us old farts and a bunch of younger ones all designed and wrote up one or
more rooms for The Tower, the premise being that if you survived a room you
were immediately in another. Deaths were frequent, and expected frequently. When
a player died, he got up from the table and was immediately replaced by the
next guy in line; we had all ages and laughed ourselves silly more often than
not. Then GCG told GenCon that they did not have GCG’s permission to use the
name Gygax. If they wanted to use it, she demanded a piece of the action.
Trouble was, there was no action. So, what could have become a living, dynamic
tribute is now just a memory. (Ironically, Indiana is the only state where that
might work.)
What’s next? An admission cost to a Memorial that is no
closer today to being built than it was four years ago? One can only speculate…
All of us that have a stake in this issue, who made
contributions and bought books, deserve to know what is going on. Otherwise must
we begin to see this as yet another failed “kickstarter-like” project foisted
off onto the gaming community?
