Wednesday, August 11, 2010

J. Eric Holmes Memorial Service Report

As we all know, Dr. J. Eric Holmes, editor of the much beloved "Blue Book" edition of Dungeons & Dragons, died earlier this year at the age of 80 after a long illness. According to this report from ERBZine 3149, a memorial service was held in his memory last month in Portland, Oregon. My favorite part of the report is the description of Dr. Holmes's grandson, Kevin, reading from St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians:
Concluding, he read, "When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things."

"This is all true of Grandpa Eric…except that last part about putting away childish things," smiled Kevin.

It's well worth the read, if only to learn a little more about the remarkable life of Dr. Holmes, as well as the fondness he engendered in those who knew and loved him.

8 comments:

  1. Very touching. Thanks for pointing that out, James.

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  2. Thanks for the great article! As a United Methodist Minister and old school gamer I found it very inspiring and thought provoking.

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  3. I saw this on Dragonsfoot. Very moving and very appropriate. Thanks for sharing it.

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  4. "When I became a man, I put away childish things, Including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up." - C.S. Lewis

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  5. I'm amazed he was referring to a poem by Clark Ashton Smith in the days before he died! He never grew tired of his interests.

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  6. The bit about the catcher's mitt was good. Seems like he was a great dad.

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  7. I live in Portland, I wonder if I ever saw him around town? A very moving article.

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  8. I recently read Mahars of Pellucidar for the first time and was quite impressed. It was a good adventure in the tradition of ERB - much better than most pastiches. It's a shame Red Axe of Pellucidar was never allowed to be published.

    Hearing about Holmes life makes me all the more wistful. What would a fully developed Holmesian D&D game have looked like compared to Gygaxian AD&D and TSR/WotC Corporate D&D?

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