Wizards of the Coast has announced the death of game designer Tom Moldvay earlier this week. He was involved in the early genesis of Dungeons & Dragons, and perhaps his widest impact was the adventure module X1: The Isle of Dread, co-written with Zeb Cook. "The Isle of Dread" was included in every copy of the 1980 version of the D&D Expert Set as an example of an outdoor adventure and setting for D&D.
Fellow TSR alumnus Steve Winter—writing about Moldvay on the WotC web site—said, "With Tom, it was always about the game—any idea that advanced the game was worth considering. For example, in preparation for a Boot Hill tournament at Gen Con, he once hand-copied a prospector's map onto a torn piece of brown paper bag, folded it down, and carried it around in his boot for two weeks, all to give it an authentic 'air' when he dumped it onto the table for the players."
