ASL Bell Tolls

[Actionjick]

He was kind enough to send me some photos he took of the old Avalon Hill building on Harford Road in Baltimore - the famous address which was on all their mail-in reply forms. Photos I still have and am still grateful for.

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I went with Fish to the AH building on Reed Street. Expected a gleaming office building, it's cubicles filled with busy game developers. Lmao it was not even close to that! As I recall it was an old building, the walls plastered with mapsheets!! Perry could give a better description as I was only there briefly. Even though the facility didn't live up to my expectations the people who worked there and the games they produced did.

 

[Hutch]

Wow, that's where the magic happened. It's like my Disney's Magic Kingdom.

Looks more like Wally World now. Waiting for John Candy to show up.

 

[Ganjulama]

Darrell Wright, RIP

 

[Actionjick]

Darrell Wright, RIP
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Damn this is a shock! Met Darrell decades ago at Oktoberfest and always enjoyed talking to him. So sorry to hear he has passed. He always had a smile and a great attitude. Sigh.

 

[Tooz]

Wow, that's where the magic happened. It's like my Disney's Magic Kingdom.

Actually, where Don Greenwood, Mac et al., worked was downtown on Read street (pronounced Reed if I remember correctly). Later they moved out to a big trailer at Glen Arm Station (named after the nearby train stop). I have many a fond memory at both places.
Looking up AH on the web shows different addresses--one stating Gay street, but I still remember these as mentioned above.
Hard to think of Avalon Hill without thinking of Charles Roberts--who I never met.

 

[Tooz]

Darrell Wright, RIP
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Darryl always had a few good stories to share at ASLOK. Usually those stories were at the bar.

 

[Tooz]

I played against Fred at every ASLOK I had attended until he passed. He preferred to be called Brad but was too much of a gentleman to ever correct me in that regard. Fred is to the right in the picture attached. He never let on that he was in bad health either which added to the shock of his loss.

 

[Actionjick]

Actually, where Don Greenwood, Mac et al., worked was downtown on Read street (pronounced Reed if I remember correctly). Later they moved out to a big trailer at Glen Arm Station (named after the nearby train stop). I have many a fond memory at both places.
Looking up AH on the web shows different addresses--one stating Gay street, but I still remember these as mentioned above.
Hard to think of Avalon Hill without thinking of Charles Roberts--who I never met.

Is my recollection of the walls at Read Street covered with mapsheets correct or a product of too many refreshments and nights spent with Captain Bacchus?

 

[Actionjick]

Darryl always had a few good stories to share at ASLOK. Usually those stories were at the bar.

After the days of TDing at Oktoberfest one of the things I looked forward to on my yearly journey to ASLOk was a chat with Darrell. I didn't know him really well but always enjoyed our talks.

 

[Michael Dorosh]

 

[Actionjick]

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Thanks! I know in the 2 Half Squads interview Fish talked about Reed Street possibly being where he first met Perry while playtesting. Perry agreed that he did playtest at Reed Street but he recalled first meeting Fish when Charlie brought him to the second Oktoberfest.

As I said my recall of the building, as well as that entire trip, is pretty hazy. My misspent youth catching up to me, time for Prevagin or some other memory supplement.

 

[Tooz]

Is my recollection of the walls at Read Street covered with mapsheets correct or a product of too many refreshments and nights spent with Captain Bacchus?

I also remember the map covered walls.

 

[Tooz]

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I remember a half flight of steps outside the entrance (not seen in these pictures which I find puzzling). I remember standing on these steps as I decline a beggar's appeal for money (didn't have any at the time!) as I was going up those steps. I actually remember his odd "sales pitch".

 

[Actionjick]

I remember a half flight of steps outside the entrance (not seen in these pictures which I find puzzling). I remember standing on these steps as I decline a beggar's appeal for money (didn't have any at the time!) as I was going up those steps. I actually remember his odd "sales pitch".

It's funny what sticks In the brain.

 

[Ganjulama]

Darrell Wright, RIP
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Darrell died in 2019. It was tragic and unexpected. I think enough time has passed to tell the story and perhaps people can learn some lessons from it. As many of you know, Darrell traveled all over the world for work. He was staying in a hotel in downtown Baltimore. He did not show up for work and the site he was working at called the hotel. They did a wellness check and found Darrell's body. The police were called and they checked his wallet. The only contact information they found was for Anthony F. Anthony called me because I have a contact list for the Bitter Ender. We did not know Darrell's family. We had no way to contact them.

I called various people on the B.E. contact list who knew Darrell better and might know how to contact his family. Let's just say that some people on the list surprised and disappointment me, while others really stepped up to the plate--John Dober in particular. John did yeoman's work going through Darrell's Facebook feed and via tagged photos found Darrell's family. John took it upon himself to convey this awful, unexpected news to Darrell's brother.

At Darrell's funeral, I was astounded by the effect he had on other's lives. I knew his affect on mine but I guess I did not realize how beloved he was to a WIDE circle of people.

I urge anyone who reads this and travels to always have contact information on their person. I utilize Road ID service. For 10 bucks a year they maintain all of my insurance information, all of my emergency contacts, and provide a bracelet you can wear so first responders can contact Road ID. There is a code on the bracelet that the 1st responder gives to Road ID so all information they need is provided to them.

 

[Actionjick]

Darrell died in 2019. It was tragic and unexpected. I think enough time has passed to tell the story and perhaps people can learn some lessons from it. As many of you know, Darrell traveled all over the world for work. He was staying in a hotel in downtown Baltimore. He did not show up for work and the site he was working at called the hotel. They did a wellness check and found Darrell's body. The police were called and they checked his wallet. The only contact information they found was for Anthony F. Anthony called me because I have a contact list for the Bitter Ender. We did not know Darrell's family. We had no way to contact them.

I called various people on the B.E. contact list who knew Darrell better and might know how to contact his family. Let's just say that some people on the list surprised and disappointment me, while others really stepped up to the plate--John Dober in particular. John did yeoman's work going through Darrell's Facebook feed and via tagged photos found Darrell's family. John took it upon himself to convey this awful, unexpected news to Darrell's brother.

At Darrell's funeral, I was astounded by the effect he had on other's lives. I knew his affect on mine but I guess I did not realize how beloved he was to a WIDE circle of people.

I urge anyone who reads this and travels to always have contact information on their person. I utilize Road ID service. For 10 bucks a year they maintain all of my insurance information, all of my emergency contacts, and provide a bracelet you can wear so first responders can contact Road ID. There is a code on the bracelet that the 1st responder gives to Road ID so all information they need is provided to them.

Thanks for the information. Your advice is very sound for those who travel either frequently or just to the occasional event.

 

[Michael Dorosh]

Kind of mitigates some of the Facebook hate you see here, too. It has its uses.

We use it here at my work all the time. Those of us handling public complaints coming in to our first responder agency occasionally see an ingenuine complainant on their own FB page saying dumb things.

 

[Ganjulama]

Kind of mitigates some of the Facebook hate you see here, too. It has its uses.

Agreed, but not enough uses to keep me on the platform. Deleted it and I have not missed it one bit.

 

[Jacometti]

Jean (6+1) Devaux, a lovely grumpy Frenchman with an excellent level of play. Super fast player, great opponent. Attended the very first Arnhem tournament in 2002 or 2003.

Passed away a few years later. Did a lot of work for Le Franc Tireur.

Fondly remembered.

 

[asloser]

Jean (6+1) Devaux, a lovely grumpy Frenchman with an excellent level of play. Super fast player, great opponent. Attended the very first Arnhem tournament in 2002 or 2003.

Passed away a few years later. Did a lot of work for Le Franc Tireur.

Fondly remembered.

I communicated with him for HP design work for Aerosans. Pity he never saw the finished item.