Once again, the news media has blasted the public image of our hobby! The recent sad events in Texas involving a young fellow who happened to be a D & D enthusiast point up the lengths that the media will go for sensationalism, this time at our expense. You will have noticed how they doted on his enthusiasm for the game out of all proportion to whatever other problems he may have had. "So what?" you may ask. Well, to show how fragile is our image in the public view, this little esisode has already "come home to roost." The University of Delaware is having second thoughts about allowing Origins '80 to be held there -- and they directly refer to the incident in Texas as "possibly damaging their image." A wargamer in Michigan, with his Doctorate in History, who had met with enthusiastic support of a University for running a class in historical battle simulation using miniatures, has now seen it all fall through -- again as a direct result of this incident. I am sure that this image set back has affected us in many small ways as well -- in ways that we may not be aware of as yet. Many of you, in your enthusiasm for the hobby, have had the local media cover your events for the Sunday supplement, newspaper articles or even on T.V. Have you noticed how they always feature the "fringe element" -- the guy who dresses up in some wierd pseudo-military uniform to play his games or who, in some way, identifies too strongly with what he is doing? They twist interviews to emphasize the out-of-the-ordinary into the downright wierd! In one case of which I have direct knowledge the interviewer asked a spokesman for a Naval wargame group in the area if they had visited the USS Massachusetts and the other ships at the floating museum in Fall River. The group spokesman's answer of "yes -- of course" was translated in the article to "they often visited the USS Massachusetts for military inspiration before each game" -- and that is a very mild example! In another case a Canadian magazine interviewed a boardgame manufacturer personality and then called the hobby "a sinkhole of displaced sexuality" not to mention the personal slurs laid on that personality. All of this leads to a plea to the readers to do what they can to help "polish" the image of the hobby -- get coverage for your group, push the historical research, the friendly competition, and the painting artistry of miniature wargaming, but beware of how the media will twist your words, try to get text approval on interviews and don't let them talk you into wearing costumes, medals or armbands, etc. for the photographic session. In my 12 years in the hobby, I have found, that it is made up of individuals from all walks of life covering pratically all areas of talent and expertise. There must be a few professional PR men in our ranks. I call for them to step forward and delineate some programs for pushing the hobby forward and improving its public image. The Courier, for one will support this activity and follow the precepts of any reasonable program, and I believe, so will other wargame magazines as well as the manufacturers. It is in our interest, after all. PRODUCTION SCHEDULE: I have received several inquiries, and not a few complaints about the timely delivery of The Courier. Just to clear up any misunderstanding: the June/July issue was printed early to be at Origins'79. It normally would have been mailed out July 15. The mailing dates for the other issues are #2, Aug/Sept. - Sept. 15; #3, Oct./Nov. - Nov. 17; #4, Dec/Jan. - Jan. 19; #5, Feb/Mar 15; #6, Apr/May - May 17; etc. This issue may be a week or two late as I have to travel out of the country. ERRATA SAPPERS REPORT, 1-2. Jerome Chaskes built the models shown in vol 1. No. 2. Jerry has helped to get out The Courier in many unheralded ways and the first time I get to mention his name in print, I forget to! SCENARIO DESIGN. PART 11,1-2. Due to a mistake in typsetting, the portion of the German orders added after playing the scenario the first time with the description of the reinforcements available and ends after the instructions to use as few of them as necessary. PHOTO CAPTION 1-1, Pg. 12 should read "23rd Welsh Fusiliers . . ." VOLLEY FIRE, 1-2. Many noted that some of the articles to be rated did not in fact appear in that issue of the magazine (even though some 5 percent of the respondents to the questionnaire have rated them anywayll). This was due to my having underestimated how much room was taken up with other articles. The articles in question will appear in due course. THE REVIEWING STAND, 1-2. The Colonial Wargames Review was by lan Knight, not lan Smith. THE ORGANIZATION OF THE ZULU ARMY, 1-2, Last paragraph, right column, 7th line should start with the word "and". CHARLES GRANT Charles Grant, wargamer, author and modeller died suddenly on May 18th. Charles was one of the old originals. He will be remembered by many for his articles and books on wargaming, by oldtimers as a scratch-builder and figure converter and painter second to none, and to veterans of Hyboria as "that great and good man" wicked Prince Vakar. His and his wife's hospitality were as legendary as the size of his wargames table and the devotion to wargaming of the local group he founded, the "Dover Coven." He was active to the end, and his final book "Wargames Tactics" is still with the printers. He is an especial loss to the Society of Ancients, whom he served as a brilliant editor of "Slingshot," President, and lately as a Life Vice-President. His son, also named Charles already has an international reputation as an original writer on wargames and can be expected to carry on the good work. --Phil Barker Back to Table of Contents -- Courier Vol. 1 #3 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1979 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com