The First Time I Encountered D&D Was in the Spring of 1974.

I was sitting beneath a tree on the playground reading the sequel to A Wrinkle in Time. My 6th grade classmate, Mike Fleming, presented me with a copy of Men and Magic and asked for my thoughts.

Mike's father was a gamer friend of Gary's. And on a side note, Roger Raupp was a fellow student in my class and participated in playground activities with a small group of us nerds.

Now, I'd like to say that in the 3-5 minutes I was given to appraise the book, I instantly understood what it was and took to it. But that's not what happened. In fact, I do not recall what I said.

It wasn't until 1976 that my mother and I moved kitty-corner to the school, and I met Rob Kuntz, who lived in the front lower apartment of the same house, which coincidentally was right next door to what is now Gary's last residence.