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In Which We Are All Us
Nov. 10th, 2018 06:46 pmToday was Greg's memorial in Berkeley, a gathering of 40 or 50 friends and family in the same backyard where he and Suzanne were married long ago. Fortunately, the smoke wasn't nearly as bad in Berkeley today, so we were able to congregate as planned.
It was an amazing gathering of tribes: Greg's roleplaying tribe, Greg's sweat lodge tribe, and Greg's home clan (his family).
It was great seeing the Gloranthan tribe again. There were a lot of folks that I hadn't seen since the '90s, when the Gloranthan fandom was at its height: Jeff O., Mike M., Neil R. I also got to finally meet Jeff R. The Gloranthan fandom was really something amazing in the '90s, a vibrant and creative community. I got to interact with it briefly at RQ-Con and RQ-Con 2 and one of the UK cons, but I also participated as an author, in Tradetalk and Hearts in Glorantha. Seeing those people again, so many years later, makes me very sad about the dissolution of that community in the '00s due to any number of circumstances, but very happy that some of them have come back together to push Glorantha forward. But I wish the old fandom was still there, still existed as more than a shadow on Facebook, because I'd like to be a member of it again.
It was also great seeing the Pendragon tribe. Steve W. represented, along with some of line's current editors and authors like Roderick R. and ones that I didn't previously know like David L. and David Z. There were also a number of people there who were just fans of Pendragon, each talking about how Greg had shown them his marked-up, underlined Le Morte d'Arthur (which I also remember seeing back in his office in Oakland). Glorantha is Greg's big flashy masterpiece, but Pendragon is great in a totally different way: it was enlightening hearing a few different people say how it had helped to bring real life to gaming, where people could have families, die, and pass on their legacy, where they could live and love.
It was an impressive assemblage of gaming personas, some of whom had travelled quite a distance to get there, which is reflective of Greg's importance to the industry. (I travelled a mere two miles, but wasn't quite the only person who'd biked over.) I was amused when one of the authors asked for an introduction to someone, only to learn that person was the ultimate publisher of what he was writing ... and then a few minutes later he started talking about this five-book history of the industry that he'd enjoyed and Steve W. smiled, pointed to me, and said, "Shannon wrote those."
Greg was a spiritual person, and many of his fellows were there, his sweat lodge tribe. Much of what they said went over my head: discussion of ceremonies and dances and men's groups and women's groups. But they also sang several songs, and I found them moving. They had a native American feel to them, and they were about coming together in unity, about living love, about helping each other. It was entirely uplifting, and I could immediately see why you'd want that in your life.
And Suzanne was there too, and their kids, and it was great to see them and support them.
Damn, just a month since he passed. It seems forever ago.
It was an amazing gathering of tribes: Greg's roleplaying tribe, Greg's sweat lodge tribe, and Greg's home clan (his family).
It was great seeing the Gloranthan tribe again. There were a lot of folks that I hadn't seen since the '90s, when the Gloranthan fandom was at its height: Jeff O., Mike M., Neil R. I also got to finally meet Jeff R. The Gloranthan fandom was really something amazing in the '90s, a vibrant and creative community. I got to interact with it briefly at RQ-Con and RQ-Con 2 and one of the UK cons, but I also participated as an author, in Tradetalk and Hearts in Glorantha. Seeing those people again, so many years later, makes me very sad about the dissolution of that community in the '00s due to any number of circumstances, but very happy that some of them have come back together to push Glorantha forward. But I wish the old fandom was still there, still existed as more than a shadow on Facebook, because I'd like to be a member of it again.
It was also great seeing the Pendragon tribe. Steve W. represented, along with some of line's current editors and authors like Roderick R. and ones that I didn't previously know like David L. and David Z. There were also a number of people there who were just fans of Pendragon, each talking about how Greg had shown them his marked-up, underlined Le Morte d'Arthur (which I also remember seeing back in his office in Oakland). Glorantha is Greg's big flashy masterpiece, but Pendragon is great in a totally different way: it was enlightening hearing a few different people say how it had helped to bring real life to gaming, where people could have families, die, and pass on their legacy, where they could live and love.
It was an impressive assemblage of gaming personas, some of whom had travelled quite a distance to get there, which is reflective of Greg's importance to the industry. (I travelled a mere two miles, but wasn't quite the only person who'd biked over.) I was amused when one of the authors asked for an introduction to someone, only to learn that person was the ultimate publisher of what he was writing ... and then a few minutes later he started talking about this five-book history of the industry that he'd enjoyed and Steve W. smiled, pointed to me, and said, "Shannon wrote those."
Greg was a spiritual person, and many of his fellows were there, his sweat lodge tribe. Much of what they said went over my head: discussion of ceremonies and dances and men's groups and women's groups. But they also sang several songs, and I found them moving. They had a native American feel to them, and they were about coming together in unity, about living love, about helping each other. It was entirely uplifting, and I could immediately see why you'd want that in your life.
And Suzanne was there too, and their kids, and it was great to see them and support them.
Damn, just a month since he passed. It seems forever ago.