With great sadness I record that Steve Curtis (at right) of Skirmish Wargames died on 18th August 1975. Because wargaming is a young hobby, it lacks heroes, there are few characters whose larger-than-life exploits are avidly passed on by word of mouth when the battle has ended and the table-top generals sit nursing a pint. It is the manner of things for colourful patterns to be moulded by such characters as their lives unfold but for their image only to achieve its true dimension whenthey have departed from Earth. This was not quite the case with Steve Curtis who, in his short lifetime, made an unforgetable impact upon all who knew him. But truly in Steve Curtis the hobby of wargaming has acquired a hero through the courage and enthusiasm he displayed towards our hobby and to Life itself during his short twenty-eight years span of life. Grievously and painfully suffering from Muscular Dystrophy and confined to a wheelchair for most of his life, Steve's enthusiasm, ingenuity and imagination -- all tempered with an incredible cheerfulness and courage, served as an example to all and no one left his presence without acquiring a feeling of intense warmth and humility. To all who knew him it was quite apparent that Steve possessed all the qualities, everything -- except good health. He gave a great deal to the hobby and the hobby gave a lot back to him, providing such an overwhelming interest as to prolong his life for some years beyond its anticipated length. Steve and his chair were highly mobile but, unaided, he was sadly handicapped. Perhaps for this reason he was obsessed with the drama, colour and movement of the Old West and in his semi-fantasy American world of one hundred years ago lie delighted in his self bestowed name of "Old Long Hair Hisself" -- this photograph depicts him in that role and is probably how he would like to be remembered. Owing more than can. ever be estimated to his collaborators, Mike Blake and Ian Colwill, Steve played a big part in introducing a new dimension to our hobby - a fresh facet and horizon which probably brought a greater sense of reality to the wargames table than any other method of wargaming. The rules, so colourfully drawn up, breathed the very characters of their three authors who displayed so much skill and ingenuity in converting 54mm figures into dance hall girls, Wild West gunmen, native warriors, British Colonial soldiers and the like that to be invited to participate in an engagement on their highly realistic terrains was a memorable event. Quite understandably, Skirmish Wargames do not know quite where they go from here as their plans did not extend beyond operating as a trio. It is to be hoped for the sake of the hobby that they decide to carry on and, in putting out more rules and stimulating more wargamers, they provide a perpetual memorial to their friend. In Steve Curtis' departure wargaming has suffered a great loss. It cannot be better expressed than in the immortal words of John Donne - "No man is an Iland, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a Clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Mannor of thy friends or of thine owne were; any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee." It would be most fitting for a public-spirited organisation, such as those who advertise in WARGAMER'S NEWSLETTER, to present a trophy - the STEVE CURTIS MEMORIAL TROPHY, to be held each year by the winner of a National Individual Skirmish Wargames Championship. Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter # 163 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1975 by Donald Featherstone. 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