Tim Hildebrandt
A person that was greatly influential in my life passed away recently. There was an article in the September 2006 issue of Dragon Magazine about the passing of Tim Hildebrandt. I never met him, and I’m sure he never knew of my existence, but he changed my life forever. He was an artist that did fantasy works. I never knew his name, but in his obituary, the article mentioned that he had done (among other things) the cover of the book Sword of Shannara.
I remember seeing the cover of the book at a garage sale that I was at with my grandmother, and I instantly knew that I wanted the book. The cover depicted three men standing in a stone chamber around a glowing sword that was embedded in a block of stone. I was probably 8 or 9 years old at the time, and I had no idea what science fiction, fantasy, or anything of that nature was. I just knew that I was drawn to the book, and that I had to have it.
I managed to talk my grandmother out of a quarter (or maybe two), so that I could get the book. We spent the rest of the day driving from garage sale to garage sale, and I spent most of the time in the tan Buick station wagon reading the book, and falling in love with Terry Brook’s work.
As soon as I finished the book, I hit the local library in an attempt to find more books like it. At the time, the fantasy section of the library was woeful to the point of non-existence. I was greatly dissapointed, but there was a used bookstore called Miss B’s Books that had tons and tons of fantasy and science fiction novels. I begged a few dollars from my grandmother, so that I can could get more books. She was gracious enough to give me the coinage that I needed to indulge in my new-found love.
When I first saw the Dungeons and Dragons red basic box set in a magazine ad, I knew that I had to have it. I didn’t know what it was, or even that it was a game, but the cover made me desire it. It looked so much like the genre of fantasy books that I had fallen in love with. In order to get the box set, I had to collect 10 “points” from Captain Olympic Greeting Cards. Each set of cards that I sold earned me one point. I quickly sold enough cards to collect my 10 points, and I sent in my order, and eagerly awaited my prize.
It was a long two weeks, but I managed to wait it out until the box arrived for me. I opened it to find these strange dice, a crayon (for coloring the numbers on the dice), and two books. One was for players, and the other was for dungeon masters. I didn’t know what either one was, but I figured out that it was a game. I read the players’ book first, and loved every moment of it. I then went on to read the dungeon masters’ book, and I knew that I wanted to play this game.
I was in the Cub Scouts at the time, and I managed to get a few of my friends from the Cub Scouts involved in the game. Some stayed for just a single session, but I was lucky enough to snag a few people that had a passion for fantasy like I did. We’d play during Cub Scout meetings, during lunch at school, on camping trips, and every other chance that we could get. I was ten years old at the time, and I’ve been playing (almost) non-stop ever since that summer. That was 23 years ago, and I’ve made tons of friends, have thousands of wonderful memories and stories, and I’m very glad that one of my hobbies has brought such great joy to myself.
Without Mr. Hildebrandt’s artwork, I would have never found Sword of Shannara. Without Sword of Shannara, I would have probably never found the cover of the Dungeons and Dragons box set interesting. Without Dungeons and Dragons, I would not have the close-knit group of friends that I have now. It’s all one long chain of events that start with Tim Hildebrandt’s artwork back in my childhood.
Tim Hildebrandt, you didn’t know me, but I still thank you from the depths of my soul for your work. Without you, I may not have turned into the person that I am today. Your work has brought immense joy to my life, and I’m glad you were in this world for the short period of time that you were. God bless.
