We interrupt the regularly-scheduled A-to-Z challenge to remember Rex A. Zinn

First off, my intention is not to mislead. Rex A. Zinn did not die recently. In fact, he died back in June of 2002. "Why do I stop to remember him?" you ask. Well, here's how the story goes...

Today, my wife and I decided to hit a few estate sales in our neighborhood. I walked into the first of these and saw a table stacked with binders with Illuminati cards and vintage box of Grenadier Wizards & Warriors minis; the box turned out to be empty, but gave me hope that a gamer lived here and there was treasure somewhere in the house.

It didn't take long to find the boxes of books right behind the table with the binders. See...



Then, in what appeared to be the home office, I found the hex/grid battle map (the hex side is pictured here, but the recto side has similarly-sized square grid). I also found a certificate of some sort for Rex A. Zinn. "Who was this Rex A. Zinn," I wondered.

Then, upstairs I found this (below)—and complete at that. This is something I've kind of been wanting for a while, but had not made any concerted effort to acquire.



So back to the topic of this post... "Who was this Rex A. Zinn?"

Well... the first results I got on a general web search for "Rex A. Zinn Dallas" were death records. Rex A Zinn died in 2002 at the age of 47, just a couple of years older than I am now. A search for "Rex A. Zinn RPG" got me to his RPG Geek entry. There's really not much there, but it was enough to get me further. It seems that in addition to being a fellow Dallasite (BTW, I live in Dallas, TX for those who might not have known), Rex developed, or helped develop, several AD&D Adventures. Here's that curriculum vitae:

• AD&D Module C4 To Find a King (credited in "Special Thanks"; this module is a reprint of modules RPGA3 and RPGA4)

• AD&D Module C4 The Bane of Llywelyn (credited in "Special Thanks"; sequel to C4; this module is a reprint of modules RPGA5 and RPGA6)

• the Maiden of Pain, published in 3 parts in Polyhedrons 33, 35, and 36, and co-written with Anita B. Frank and Robert J. Blake (Bob Blake wrote C4 and C5 above, as well Judges Guild's Of Skull and Scrapfaggot Green)

I know that in the bigger scheme of things, Mr. Zinn's gaming legacy isn't as big as some, but his death also pre-dates the old-school renaissance and the explosion of gaming-related blogs. I wonder if we would have heard more from him had he lived longer. If you know another "minor" gaming figure that is no longer with us, please feel free to leave their name and a bit about them in the comments section below.