Editing Gary Gygax (section)

== Awards and honors ==
Immediately after Gygax's 2008 funeral, mourners adjourned to Lake Geneva's American Legion Hall to play games in the deceased's honor. Members of his family served refreshments and played games with friends. This event inspired Luke Gygax to create a locally hosted game event around the date of his father's death. Years later, [[Gary Con]] is so well-attended a dozen Lake Geneva hotels must be utilized in order to serve the demand. The funeral day event is now regarded as Gary Con 0.<ref name="OfDiceandMen16">{{cite book | first=David M. | last=Ewalt | author-link= David M. Ewalt | date= August 20, 2013| title= Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and the People Who Play It | publisher= Simon and Schuster |chapter=16: Pilgrimage | isbn=978-1-4516-4052-6 }}</ref>

As the "father of role-playing games", Gygax received many awards, honors, and tributes related to gaming:

* He was inducted into the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design [[Origins Award]] Hall of Fame, also known as the [[Charles Roberts Awards Hall of Fame]], in 1980.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.originsgamefair.com/aagad/awards/hall-of-fame|title=Hall of Fame|publisher=Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080212224538/http://www.originsgamefair.com/aagad/awards/hall-of-fame|archive-date=February 12, 2008|access-date=March 29, 2008}}</ref>
* ''Sync'' magazine named Gygax number one on the list of "The 50 Biggest Nerds of All Time".<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Sync|date=December 2004 – January 2005|title=The 50 Biggest Nerds of All Time|quote=Number 1: Gary Gygax: Cocreator of Dungeons & Dragons and father of role-playing games. ... Between 1977 and 1979, Gygax released Advanced Dungeons & Dragons for advanced dorks, taking the cult phenomenon to new heights whilst giving himself a +5 salary of lordly might.}}</ref>
* ''SFX'' magazine listed him as number 37 on the list of the "50 Greatest [[Science fiction|SF]] Pioneers".<ref>{{cite journal|journal=[[SFX magazine|SFX]]|date=March 2005|issue=128|title=50 Greatest SF Pioneers}}</ref>
* In 1999, ''[[Pyramid (magazine)|Pyramid]]'' magazine named Gygax as one of "The Millennium's Most Influential Persons" "in the realm of adventure gaming".<ref>{{cite journal|title=Second Sight: The Millennium's Best "Other" Game and The Millennium's Most Influential Person|journal=[[Pyramid (magazine)|Pyramid]]|url=http://www.sjgames.com/pyramid/login/article.html?id=1306|last=Haring|first=Scott D.|publisher=[[Steve Jackson Games]]|date=December 24, 1999|access-date=February 15, 2008}}</ref>
* Gygax was tied with [[J. R. R. Tolkien]] for number 18 on GameSpy's "30 Most Influential People in Gaming".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.gamespy.com/articles/march02/top30/|title=GameSpy's 30 Most Influential People in Gaming|work=[[GameSpy]]|publisher=IGN|date=March 2002|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081017112330/http://archive.gamespy.com/articles/march02/top30/|archive-date=October 17, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* A strain of bacteria was named in honor of Gygax, "''Arthronema gygaxiana sp nov UTCC393''".<ref>{{cite journal|last=Casamatta|first=Dale A.|author2=Johansen, Jeffrey R.|author3=Vis, Morgan L.|author4= Broadwater, Sharon T.|title=Molecular and Morphological Characterization of Ten Polar Strains Within The Oscillatories (Cyanobacteria)|journal=[[Journal of Phycology]]|date=March 17, 2005|volume=41|issue=2|pages=421–438|doi=10.1111/j.1529-8817.2005.04062.x|s2cid=82579300}}</ref>
* He was inducted into the Pop Culture Hall of Fame Class of 2019<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.popculturehall.com/blog/ultimate-dungeon-master-gary-gygax-joins-pchof-inductee-class-of-19/|title=Ultimate Dungeon Master Gary Gygax joins PCHOF Inductee Class of '19|date=August 1, 2019|access-date=August 1, 2019|publisher=Pop Culture Hall of Fame|language=en}}</ref>

In 2008 Gail Gygax, the widow of Gary Gygax, began the process to establish a memorial to her late husband in Lake Geneva.<ref name="roadbits1">{{cite web |url=https://roadbits.net/lake-geneva-dungeons-dragons/ |title=The origin of Dungeons & Dragons in Lake Geneva |publisher=Roadbits |date=May 21, 2020 |access-date=May 27, 2021}}</ref> On March 28, 2011, the City Council of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, approved Gail Gygax's application for a site of memorial in Donian Park; however, the Gygax family was unable to raise the money at the time to complete the memorial during a 2012 funding campaign.<ref name="roadbits1"/> The design of the monument is a stone castle look with medieval pole arms, a family crest and a dragon.<ref>{{cite web|last=Schultz|first=Chris|title=Work on Gygax memorial slowed, but not stopped|url=https://www.lakegenevanews.net/work-on-gygax-memorial-slowed-but-not-stopped/article_652ef457-ef6b-5d97-9147-e1b254b29353.html|access-date=April 15, 2021|website=Lake Geneva News|date=December 2, 2014 |language=en}}</ref>

In 2014, with the approval of Gary's eldest son, Ernie, Epic Quest Publishing started a Kickstarter campaign to raise the initial funding for a museum dedicated to Gary featuring a gaming and event center and hall of fame for authors, artists, designers and game masters.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Schultz |first1=Chris |title=Campaign seeks Gygax museum |url=http://www.lakegenevanews.net/campaign-seeks-gygax-museum/article_8d76e2b2-fca1-53df-b43a-3ab2da03afb3.html |access-date=September 27, 2018 |work=Lake Geneva News |date=September 2, 2014 |language=en}}</ref>

Lake Geneva mayor Charlene Klein proclaimed July 27, 2023, as "Gary Gygax Day", and on that day dedicated a lakeside park bench in his honor. In her proclamation she reminds residents that in 1983 TSR employed over 400 people, "over 6% of Lake Geneva's population at the time."<ref name="07242023GMF">{{cite web |title=July 27th Gary Gygax Day |url=https://www.gygaxmemorialfund.org/j27ggd-initiative |website=Gygax Memorial Fund |access-date=July 25, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Gary Gygax Park Bench Dedication |url=https://www.visitlakegeneva.com/event/gary-gygax-park-bench-dedication/11763/ |website=www.visitlakegeneva.com |access-date=July 26, 2023 |language=en-us |archive-date=July 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230726002111/https://www.visitlakegeneva.com/event/gary-gygax-park-bench-dedication/11763/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="06082023Hines">{{cite news |last1=Hines |first1=Dennis |title=Park bench dedicated in honor of Gary Gygax |url=https://lakegenevanews.net/news/local/park-bench-dedicated-in-honor-of-gary-gygax/article_7a8db630-2d6c-11ee-b8d2-ff28541e194b.html#:~:text=The%20Gygax%20Park%20Bench%2C%20honoring,west%20end%20of%20Library%20Park.&text=A%20sign%20depicting%20the%20proclamation,Gygax%20Park%20Bench%20dedication%20ceremony. |access-date=August 8, 2023 |work=Lake Geneva News |date=August 6, 2023 |language=en}}</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:Gen Con Indy 2008 - Gary Gygax memorials 04.JPG|A plaque dedicated to Gary Gygax at [[Gen Con]] 2008 reading: "The first DM, He taught us to roll the dice. He opened the door to new worlds. His work shaped our industry. He brought us Gen Con, For this we thank him. In fond memory of Gary Gygax and in celebration of his spirit and accomplishments."
File:GygaxMemorial_(2).jpg|Public memorial to Gary located at the [[Lake Geneva, Wisconsin|Lake Geneva]] waterfront erected by his family.
</gallery>