Copyright 2009. Robert J. Kuntz. All Rights Reserved.
"'Rob, I could give two pieces of coon shit what people think of me."-- EGG in an email to me circa 2003.
... This nature was so true of EGG. But it also true that this did not suggest a lack of caring attitude or warmth, for which he was noted to have in great abundance. His detractors, mainly in my estimation jealous piss-ants found at various fora on the internet, were very vocal, but also very cowardly as they seldom if ever, unlike in the days of honored exchange in magazines or by post, ever had the gumption to say anything to the man's face or to direct their enmity towards him in personal exchange; and of course this example betrayed the very nature of the acts and the people behind them. Gary was a heated debater. His letters to the editor in Panzerfaust magazine, the International Wargamer or in The Courier, often developed into slugfests, with a notable one carrying on for many pages and issues between Jerry Pournelle (before the latter's rise to fame as a SF author) ...'"
But would you say EGG could be, at times, a bit of a showboat?
ReplyDeleteJust curious...and thanks for sharing.
Thanks.
ReplyDelete"showboat"
or,
show-off" noun informal
exhibitionist, extrovert, poser, poseur, peacock, swaggerer, self-publicist, braggart; informal showboat, blowhard, grandstander.
Would you mind being more specific and I may answer the question then?
Funny, I was figuring he meant 'Show Boat', like the musical.
ReplyDeleteGary was sort of like Joe singing "Ol'Man River", just kind of letting those around him know,
"Yeah, this has happened, but the river keeps rolling on anyway".
;)
Ciao,
Grendelwulf
Well, I do not feel inclined to comment either way. The whole post was an afterthought about something I was thinking about at the moment, so I dug for the anecdote and posted it. I wasn't really thinking then of it as an open discussion or entertaining follow-up as it is a sample only.
ReplyDeleteI will say this: If you never met the man and based feelings and thus opinion of him by internet exchange only, then I will just about guarantee that such impressions were wrong. But I suppose that just about applies for anyone in such circumstances.
Thanks for the sample.
ReplyDeleteFelt abit of whimsy & I posted. The musical popped into my head, that's all.
I shouldn't have just said "Gary was...". I should have phrased it "I wonder if he was..."
You are the most expert here about the man. He was your friend, mentor, business partner, etc. I never got to meet him & only had a few internet exchanges. I only knew him from the game he created and the many things he wrote and said publicly. That is nothing really to go by and I'm sorry if my words sounded wrong.
I do have my own impressions of him and he struck me as someone who didn't like to revisit past annoyances and always seemed to be wanting to put some new iron in the fire. Hence, my analogy of "whatever happens, you keep moving on".
Which I shall now do...
Ciao,
Grendelwulf
No Grendelwulf, you're fine. I was finally responding to JB.
ReplyDelete