Thursday, July 21, 2016

Where's The Beef?

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?

19 comments:

  1. I so very much dislike how this issue is stagnating. For all the wonderful years of entertainment Mr. Gygax and crew have given us; merchandising action should not be the forefront focus. It's unfair.

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  2. I so very much dislike how this issue is stagnating. For all the wonderful years of entertainment Mr. Gygax and crew have given us; merchandising action should not be the forefront focus. It's unfair.

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  3. I suggest calling it the Tower of EGG... and then she can sit-n-spin...

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  4. I'd almost think it's time for Ernie and Luke to lawyer up. There's enough evidence that she's hiding something big. If Gary did have a will and it wasn't sent through probate, then a big crime is being committed.

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    1. Actually, all you really have to do is read about probate courts--just google "do I need to probate a will". You are not required to file a probate for every written will.

      The only time probate would be an issue would be if Gary had assets that were solely in his name, like a bank account that just said Gary Gygax, for instance. Stuff like Gary's house, for instance, was probably a joint custody thing.

      The key thing, when it comes to what people are probably wondering about, Gary's IP, Trigee Enterprises Corporation was formed in 1986, and was solely owned by his wife. Most of Gary's work post 1986 was produced under that banner. That is the most clear statement you can find that Gary wanted Gail to have total control over his estate after death.

      If Tim Kask once saw a complex will, that would have been around the time when Gary was at the top of TSR and was married to his now-ex wife. Back then, the stakes were higher and I'm sure owning a growing company would have required more care on that (and I think they could afford better lawyers back then). But that was nearly 35+ years ago, and circumstances and people change.

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    2. Once more we hear from Gail's shill, John R Troy. Tell me, John, does she have you on a retainer fee?

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    3. Sadly, you can't refute any of those facts, so you go for attacking the person. Anybody who even comes to the defense of Gail is a "shill".

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    4. Hardly surprising that JRT didn't answer the question.

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    5. Well, I didn't "answer" the question because (a) I answered Kask already at Tenkar's Tavern--I've never received a dime from Gail Gygax, Gary Gygax, or any of the business entities involved, unless you count thank you's and a few free products. And (b), that type of accusation isn't really worth responding to.





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  5. You know I looked up the trademarks on his name... How can they say "The name "GYGAX" does not identify a living individual." Is that not Ernie's and Luke's Last name? Does not the military call Luke "Gygax" when they give him orders?

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    1. That's just for purposes of law. If a living individual trademarks his or her own name, there's a separate set of laws to handle that--that disclaimer means that it's not being used to ID a currently living individual. In this case, the registration is indicative of Gary Gygax, who is deceased.

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    2. Agree that JRT is a shill for Gail. Playing tapps for the GMF.

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  6. Why not call it the Tower of Gary? Not as nice a name, but she can't do shit. Just make up a fictional author figure named Gary thsi is a tribute to and you're fine.

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    1. Or, maybe more appropriate: the Tower of Remembrance.

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  7. We were promised an audit nearly 3 months ago.

    Ah well. It's not like the fans actually care, right?

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  8. I'm still waiting for an update to this:
    http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=30722

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  9. I'm still waiting for an update to this:
    http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=30722

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