He has been diagnosed, at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, with a serious neurological disorder. The gaming world came close to saying goodbye to yet another of the pioneers of RPGing several months ago. The experts say that Jim's condition is treatable and manageable, but will remain very serious forever.This is a good cause, so, if you have fond memories of Metamorphosis Alpha or Gamma World and a little money to spare, consider making a donation to the fund.Jim is very, very slowly recovering; every day is a new skirmmish with the disorder. He still suffers from acute bouts of dizziness and a pervasive lassitude due to bodily energy issues.
While Jim and his family are fortunate to have some health insurance, the co-pays are mounting at an alarming rate, having hit five digits some while ago and showing no signs of abating any time soon.
While we can't make Jim well, perhaps we can alleviate some of his financial worries and remove some of the burden from his family. I hope you can help my friend of 35 years in his most low-down time.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Friends of Starship Warden
Several people have asked me to spread the word about a new website, Friends of Starship Warden, that's been established to accept donations for deferring some of the expenses of Gamma World creator James Ward's medical treatments. At the above website, Tim Kask had the following to say about Mr Ward's situation:
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I am amazed that no one has had word one to say on the subject of Jim Ward.
ReplyDeleteIn 1981, as I was wrapping up high school, I remember reading an old issue of POLYHEDRON that had an interview with him. I thought the guy had it utterly made. He was apparently happily married, lovely wife, several kids, and he was one of the big dogs at TSR... making an apparently comfortable living writing stuff for GAMMA WORLD, among other things.
From the perspective of a nerdy 17 year old, I'd have cheerfully murdered anyone to be in Ward's shoes. The guy pioneered science fiction gaming in its earliest form, and steered a LOT of early Dungeons and Dragons development.
There is no love for the guy out there?
@Tom, I think it's just that some other blogs have been covering this for a few days and people have been commenting there. There seems to be quite a bit of love for the guy among the grognards, despite WotC's de facto disavowal of everytihng that came before the latest product.
ReplyDeleteIt's also the week before Thanksgiving and some are starting to travel already.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this, James. I hope some of you can help out one of the remaining old guard.
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