You use your "Open Portal" spell and...

I have been meaning to post something about the passing of Bill Buckley and a reflection on his place in modern conservatism and conservatism in general when I came across the news today that Gary Gygax had died.And I got to thinking: who really had more impact on my life? I mean, sure, Buckley pretty much resurrected "conservatism" from it's post-Depression ash heap and set it on the path that ran through Goldwater and Reagan and finally to Coulter, Limbaugh, Dubya and Darth Cheney, but...

Did I spend hours of my youth and young adulthood painting miniatures of Whittaker Chambers and Ayn Rand? Creating tiny armies of free-market economists and think tank neoconservatives? Could I recite pages from "The Conscience of a Conservative" the way I knew my hit dice tables and my saving throws?

So here's a last roll of the dice to you, Gary. You were The Man when I was just a kid, and I learned a lot from you.

Okay, mostly that your Fifth Level character is wasting his time running from the Old Red Dragon. He's just gonna die crispy AND tired...
But it was a hell of a ride and we have you, as much as anyone, to thank.