Nerd Nirvana

Sorry this deserves it's own post. In the comments section below Margaret Weis, who with Tracy Hickman wrote the Dragonlance series, posted the following note:

Mr. Coates,

I am the co-author, with Tracy Hickman, of the Dragonlance Chronicles and I just wanted to thank you for the wonderful mention in Time Magazine. I am proud to have been a part of your life, albeit a small one! 

And I just wanted you to know that you can take comfort in the fact that skinheads do not play D&D, nor do they read Dragonlance. They're not smart enough! A survey done by TSR, Inc, back in the early eighties discovered that D&D players tend to be of above average intelligence, highly imaginative and creative.

Again, thank you so much. It means a great deal to me. (Oh, and if you go back to read the books, remember that Dragons of Autumn Twilight was our very first novel! I can't read it myself without wincing!):)

Margaret Weis

If you were a Dungeons & Dragons player, you know all about Dragonlance, Tanis the Half-Elven, Kitara, Flint Fireforge, Strum and the rest. If you didn't play D&D, well....I guess it's never too late. Anyway, to the extent that fantasy epics like A Wrinkle In Time, The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe, and the Neverending Story, were second homes to me--Dragonlance was a mansion. It will sound wierd, but I can draw a direct line from,say, The Labrynth to Dragonlance to the Uncanny X-Men to Follow The Leader to It Takes A Nation Of Millions to Hold Us Back. What is Rakim's "Microphone Fiend" if not an origin tale? And what is Rakim, if not the greatest verbal swordsman of his era? All of these works were using the word--and in some case images--to say that there is beauty is seeing more in the world than what is actually there.

If there's anything that I would want more of for black boys and girls, it's imagination. Obviously I'd wish it for all kids, and here, I'm just speaking on what I know: When you are young and black and you have the vague sense that the world is not as it should be, you need to be able to imagine other ways of being. You need to understand that somewhere there are people who pay their bills by, not shrinking themselves for the streets, but by becoming bigger, by seeing more in the world. It's a damn shame that the very people who need imagination the most, are the ones who get it drummed out of them the quickest.

Hip-Hop, D&D, comic books--all of it--really allowed me to live. It's true, I had to learn the dialect of the people I was around, and come to see the beauty in that too. But in fantasy, in Dragonlance, I guess I saw that there were other kinds of beauty and those kinds--and my native kind--were ultimately variants on the same theme.

Comments

Eric July 21, 2008 12:35 PM

I'm ashamed to say I know exactly who Margaret Weis and Tracey Hickman are.

crack July 21, 2008 1:50 PM

Wow, first Kojo and now this? Mr. Coates up you are blowing!

crack July 21, 2008 2:04 PM

Also, Don't you think George Bush is the Kingpriest of Istar?

Lester Spence July 21, 2008 4:05 PM

I'm not ashamed. I've still got the books at my parents' crib. I'd probably throw up if I tried to read them NOW mind you...but this isn't because I don't still have love for fantasy, sf, and AD&D. I remember my character (Karnak the Dwarf) like it was yesterday. And remember the thrill of rolling three 20s in a row.

Ultraman, Johnny Socko and his Giant Robot, G-Force, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, Gamera, Jet Jaguar, Thundarr the Barbarian...I don't know where I'd be without them.

NT July 21, 2008 4:32 PM

That is awesome!

Dragonlance... now that's taking it back. I haven't read the series in years but I still have a few of those books.

Colby July 21, 2008 5:20 PM

Aww come on - don't be ashamed of Dragonlance! It's a great series that's still entertaining even as an adult (just re-read the Chronicles myself a few months ago).

Christopher M July 21, 2008 5:24 PM

Dude, when you put it like that, I guess it really WAS a beautiful struggle.

von July 21, 2008 6:50 PM

I can draw a direct line from,say, The Labrynth to Dragonlance to the Uncanny X-Men to Follow The Leader to It Takes A Nation Of Millions to Hold Us Back.

I wouldn't have thought of it that way, but you're right. (I particularly see the connection between the Uncanny X-Men and PE.)

And, yes, I've read the Dragonlance and rolled the d20. And I still have tattered, first-edition (paperback) copies sitting in my home office .... perhaps I'll read them again to see how they hold up.

Bianca July 21, 2008 7:50 PM

"When you are young and black and you have the vague sense that the world is not as it should be, you need to be able to imagine other ways of being. You need to understand that somewhere there are people who pay their bills by, not shrinking themselves for the streets, but by becoming bigger, by seeing more in the world. It's a damn shame that the very people who need imagination the most, are the ones who get it drummed out of them the quickest."

Amen.
I hope you don't mind if I stick those words on a poster and hang them on my classroom wall.

ron vicente July 21, 2008 11:00 PM

Wow. Last 2 paragraphs made me want to cry. Perfect.

Chauncey Devega July 22, 2008 2:04 AM

Great, great post.

I have so many fond memories of late night d and d and old school west end games star wars role playing sessions---the laconic scout! that was my character. and role playing and nerd culture has been a narrative dominated as almost echoing, if not in perfect parallel with whiteness (even though white geeks want to claim some type of anti-racist mantra).

we do in fact have a story to tell, we nerds who are coloured--i think i will have to use that for a book title before i get scooped.

chauncey devega

Chauncey Devega July 22, 2008 2:05 AM

Great, great post.

I have so many fond memories of late night d and d and old school west end games star wars role playing sessions---the laconic scout! that was my character. and role playing and nerd culture has been a narrative dominated as almost echoing, if not in perfect parallel with whiteness (even though white geeks want to claim some type of anti-racist mantra).

we do in fact have a story to tell, we nerds who are coloured--i think i will have to use that for a book title before i get scooped.

chauncey devega

editorbob July 22, 2008 7:40 AM

Although I was never a D&Der, I have read nearly every book on the list in your post. I, too, applaud your attitude toward pure imagination as a major driving force for growth. I'd like to add this to your book list: for a compelling, intricate exploration of growing up immersed in a complex, seemingly complete world and yet still longing for more than you even know exists, I highly recommend Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy. A marvelous coming-of-age story, and an exquisitely woven fantasy, albeit unlike our average Dragon-riding/slaying/befriending series. Worth the read.

crack July 22, 2008 9:20 AM

Terry Pratchett is known to lament how little respect fantasy is afforded. His work is especially good, and I'm pretty sure Pyramids is the blueprint for Lost.

TW Andrews July 22, 2008 11:25 AM

I'm ashamed to say I know exactly who Margaret Weis and Tracey Hickman are.

No shame at all there. Many of the brightest, most interesting people I know were big fans of Dragonlance, and a fair few of those played D&D.

Amitav July 22, 2008 5:55 PM

Margaret Weis reads your blog! Or at least read it one time. Awesome. I read every damn one of those Dragonlance books multiple times, Chronicles, Legends, Tales, whatever. Not a gamer myself, but love me some good fantasy character development. One of my all-time favorite series was Weis and Hickman's Rose of the Prophet trilogy, the first time I'd ever seen non-Tolkienesque (i.e. dwarf, elf, or straight out of England) characters in major fantasy roles. Good memories. I'm gonna have to find those books. Raistlin-- how long has it been since I've thought about Raistlin?