When Gary Met James

James M. Ward's interview in issue #3 of Polyhedron (Winter 1981–1982) contains many interesting pieces of historical trivia, such as this story of how Gary Gygax first became acquainted with him.

Fascinating stuff, is it not? Whenever I do interviews, my first question is usually "how do you become involved in the hobby of roleplaying?" I ask it because I think the answers are genuinely revealing, not just about the individual in question but also about the various pathways they took into the hobby. Many of them had a mentor, someone who introduced them to roleplaying and colored their initial perspective on it. Apparently, James Ward was among them, except that his mentors were Gary Gygax and Brian Blume! It's notable, too, that it was a shared love of fantasy literature that helped forge the bond between them. The connection between pulp fantasies and the early hobby is one that's fueled many posts on this blog and I continue to delve into the matter, even if it's a much more well known and documented topic now than it was years ago. In any case, the Polyhedron interview with Ward is a terrific one, well worth reading.